Tarantino and General Tso

Remember when I used to have a huge post for the NY Times' thrice-yearly big movie preview sections? Well, not gonna do that here, but I am going to give you links to the paper's round-ups of November, December, and January releases in the current Holiday Movies sections, and I'm gonna tell you briefly which flicks I'm hot for in advance.

In November, the biggie is Skyfall--and I do mean biggie, 'cause I'm renting a car next weekend, ostensibly for my farewell trip to Costco before letting my membership lapse, but also to facilitate getting to an Imax screening of the new Bond; I blame my Maniel Craig crush. Other probables: Lincoln (duh), Barrymore (C. Plummer as? oh, yeah), Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy (Thanksgiving weekend M4?), Life of Pi (all on Ang Lee, not because I'm a fan of the book--never read it--or much of a fan of magical realism in general), The Central Park Five (can I trust the Burns factor to bring it to New Haven, or should I include it in that M4?), and Beware of Mr. Baker (Ginger, i.e.; an unlikely probable, actually, since it opens right after my M4 and isn't apt to travel well).

All us pseudo-Jews will be going to see a brand-new movie on Christmas Day: I wouldn't rule out seeing Les Misérables at some point--especially as January looks typically wastelandish--but on the day, it has no chance against Django Unchained. Earlier in the month, I'm looking at Hyde Park on Hudson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Michael Haneke's Amour.

Lady is a mathematician

It took me the better part of the month to get through the Times' Summer Movies section, and there's just too much else (Mets, World Cup soon) going on to do anything elaborate with it here. But quickly, before the first of them opens, here are the half-dozen flicks I learned about from the section that excite me:

The hopes of a summer

• Agora--Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside) directs the luminescent Rachel Weisz as Hypatia of Alexandria.
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead--If nothing else, the best title of the season, and it's gotta be better than Hamlet 2.
• Flickan som lekte med elden--That girl with the dragon tattoo returns, this time playing with fire.
• Cairo Time--MFW Patty as cougar.
• Centurion--Roman Britain, A.D. 117. Oh, hell, yeah!
• Soul Kitchen--Fatih Akin (Head-On, The Edge of Heaven); that's all I need to know.

Goats, foxes, zombies

Just a quick roundup of the films scheduled to be released the rest of the year whose impending arrival excites me (!), interests me, with reservations (?), or appals me (0).

Opening Friday: If I were the part-of-the-solution person I'd like to believe I am, I'd be way more excited about Fuel (?), which promises to be the Inconvenient Truth of the year. As it is, I'm in, but I can't help feeling like I'm eating my vegetables. . . . Way more eager to see the new Soderbergh, The Informant! (no, really, !), with Matt Damon looking his squirrelliest.
. . . Then there's the new Diablo Cody script, a grrrl-empowered horror flick, Jennifer's Body (?).

25 September: No, haven't seen the Theo van Gogh original, and I'm not sure about the couple-mourning-dead-daughter-trying-to-renew-relationship premise, but all you have to say is Stanley Tucci and My Future Wife Patty Clarkson, and I'm in for Blind Date (!). But, geez--check out IMDb: I think that title has been used enough now, please. Just this year there are Australian and U.S.-Korean shorts, and next year there's a Polish one (not clear whether short or feature), though you probably know it until its native title, Randka w ciemno. . . . I loved and mourn David Foster Wallace, whose Infinite Jest, I've decided, has superseded The Great Gatsby as my favorite novel of the 20th c. But I hated hated hated (so much so that I'm not even providing a link) Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and I can't believe that letting John Krasinski extract a single plot from it and direct is the way to save the film (0).

2 October: If anyone can make the premise of The Invention of Lying work, it's Ricky Gervais. If (?). . . . Ordinarily, the new Coens film would get an automatic screamer, but the trailer for A Serious Man is so insistently disorienting and annoying that I'm (?). . . . Saw Toy Story and Toy Story 2 while visiting a friend and his kids a few years ago, and I'm (!) over the prospect of a 3D double-feature rerelease. . . . Zombieland: plus: Woody Harrelson, with overacting carte blanche; minus: ditto (?).

9 October: Michael Sheen + English football (soccer to you) = hell, yes: The Damned United (!). . . . An Education gets a (?) not because of the Times focus on Carey Mulligan but because I noticed that the screenplay is by Nick Hornby.

16 October: Paris, je t'aime was less than met the eye, so I'm (?) about New York, I Love You, but it's hard to imagine missing it. Fewer directors whose work I'm excited about, but it will be interesting to see what Natalie Portman, Joshua Marston, and Mira Nair have to show us. . . . Where the Wild Things Are (!). My daughter said something very perceptive yesterday about this: that the makers of the trailer have tried very hard to make it seem all warm and fuzzy and Disneyesque, but that what Spike Jonze has given them to work with makes that impossible.

23 October: Nobody's trying to make Lars von Trier's trailer warm and fuzzy, I'll bet! Antichrist, with Cannes best actress Charlotte Gainsbourg--very nearly (!), but finally (?).

6 November: Heck, just the title of The Men Who Stare at Goats is worth (!), and then Clooney?

13 November: Wasn't hot for Fantastic Mr. Fox from the trailer, but now I see that Wes Anderson directs, so (?). Could be a hell of a season for the kids. . . . Likewise, I'm (?) on Me and Orson Welles on the basis of Richard Linklater's direction, and in spite of Zac Efron's being "me." . . . The Boat That Rocked is now being called Pirate Radio, which suggests that the studio will do everything it can to fuck it up, but the trailer is irresistible (?).

20 November: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, a regionally reset remake? One word: Herzog (?). . . . Los abrazos rotos (Broken embraces): one word: Almodóvar (!). . . . Planet 51 sounds just goofy enough for a (?).

4 December: Up in the Air (!). Clooney again; am I just kidding myself about liking girls?

11 December: Invictus: Morgan Freeman as Mandela--what took 'em so long to figure that out (?)?

16 December: Panique au village (A town called panic). Plot summary lifted from an anonymous post on IMDb: "Animated plastic toys like Cowboy, Indian and Horse have problems, too. Cowboy and Indian's plan to surprise Horse with a homemade birthday gift backfires when they destroy his house instead. Surreal adventures take over [! after that?] as the trio travel to the center of the earth, trek across frozen tundra and discover a parallel underwater universe where pointy-headed (and dishonest!) creatures live. With panic a permanent feature of life in this papier mâché town, will Horse and his girlfriend ever be alone?" And dishonest (?)! Hey, triple feature w/ the Toy Stories?

18 December: If Did You Hear About the Morgans? is not the worst film of the season, its trailer cutter should be taken out and shot; otherwise, the same applies to everyone else concerned, including Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker (0).

Christmas: Two (?s) with double-plus casts but minus directors: It's Complicated (Streep + A. Baldwin - Nancy Meyers) and Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr. + Law - Guy Ritchie).

Boldly going

Times Summer Movies section came out this weekend, but this year, instead of listing every freakin' movie coming this season, I'm just going to comment briefly on what looks promising and what looks like Bad Idea Jeans. I'll be updating as I go along.

Are you kidding me?

From the feature on Tony Scott's remake of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, cleverly titled The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3:

Mr. Scott admitted that before working on the movie — a retelling of John Godey’s best-selling New York City subway hostage thriller, made into a classic 1974 movie — he had never been in the subway. “Well, when I say never, I mean maybe once or twice quite drunk at night, when I couldn’t find a taxi,” said Mr. Scott, who was born in England and lives in Los Angeles. [posted 3 May]

Well, in fact,it looks as if there won't be multiple installments, just that one and this one: had time to read the section at lunch hours this week, had no time to post in the evenings. So . . .

Yes, I'll watch her

Maya Rudolph is featured in Five Scene-Stealers to Watch, and without having watched SNL during her tenure, I'm convinced just by the trailer for Away We Go, which, in case I haven't mentioned it, was shot in part in my neighborhood, and the façade of my very own building may be in it, not that that's a reason for it to be a 5 or anything.

Time to restart Netflix, I guess

Gee whiz, does every damned one of the upcoming DVDs highlighted sound great, or what? I saw the trailer for Killshot on a DVD (yeah, I watch the trailers on DVD sometimes; you got a problem w/ that?) and recognized it immediately as an Elmore Leonard novel I'd read, and figured the film must have been crap and gone straight to DVD. An assumption only slightly less than half right, apparently. Oh, and don't miss in the miscellany that My Dinner with Andre is finally returning to disc. And the wonderful adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood, starring Brad Dourif and directed, according to the opening credits, by Jhon Huston.

My 5s, Jennie Tonic's 5s, and consensus 5s

(Colors behave with annoying consistency; if text is colored, that takes precedence, but if not, look closely at the bullets.)

• Rudo y Cursi
• Away We Go (4); did I mention that this was shot in part in my neighborhood, and that the façades of my row of brownstones might appear in it?
• Public Enemies (4+)
• Taking Woodstock (4)
• Inglourious Basterds
• Cold Souls (4)
  

My 4s, JT's 4s, and consensus 4s

(Opened before the section appeared)

• Eldorado
• The Limits of Control (bizarrely listed on IMDb, even after opening, as No Limits, No Control)
• The Merry Gentleman

(Opened since the section appeared)

• La ventana (The window)
  
• Adoration (postreview 5)
• Julia
• Little Ashes (don't know about JT, but postreview, I'm a no)
• Objectified (it was a soft 4, and postreview it's a 3)
• I was not a 4 prereview on Star Trek, but now it's penciled in for popcorn lunch Sunday

(Not yet open)

• The Brothers Bloom
• Jerichow (eastern Germany)
• O' Horten
• Ghosts of the Heartland (4+)
• Pressure Cooker
• Okuribito (Departures)
• Sügisball
• Ball Don't Lie
• Downloading Nancy (Rufus Sewell and Maria Bello)
• Tetro
• The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
• Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
• $9.99 (love the stop motion)
• Whatever Works
• Year One (Harold Ramis hope springs eternal)
• Les plages d'Agnès (The beaches of Agnès)
• Soul Power
• Somers Town (4+)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Anonyma: Eine Frau in Berlin (A woman in Berlin) (4+)
• Arlen Faber (The answer man)
• Du levande (You, the living) (on basis of description as "brilliant")
• Le silence de Lorna (Lorna's silence)
• Julie & Julia (notwithstanding Nora Ephron; jesus, I was starting to think we'd never have another consensus!)
• Mein Führer: Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler
• It Might Get Loud
• The Boat That Rocked

OK, other things I was planning to list as questionable or execrable, but I've already spent far more time on this that I expected to, plus I'm depressed to seeing that my erstwhile best friend and I have almost nothing to discuss about movies anymore, so, basta.

It's the holidays: piss off

The brief Times Holiday Movies section, which has lots of overlap from the Fall Movies section a couple of months ago. As then, I've stripped Dave Kehr's comments down to a fair-use sampling, but herewith links to his full wrap-up, divided into November and December/January.

As usual, I'm joined by Jennie Tonic.

November 5

• Tussenstand (Stages)--Dutch depression; 4. 2.

November 7

• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas--Another feel-good Holocaust flick (and I see they've dropped the Brit spelling of pyjamas); 2. 3.
• Gardens of the Night--Creepy child-abuse flick; 3. 3.
• The Guitar--Directorial debut of Amy Redford; yep: daughter. Poster featuring Saffron Burrows will be on many dorm room walls. 3. 4.
• JCVD--2. 3.
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa--No. 2.
• Otto; or, Up with Dead People--Per Kehr, "a comic fable about a young gay zombie . . . who finds himself cast in a German avant-garde horror movie"; well, hell, 4. 3.
• Pray the Devil Back to Hell--3. 3.
• Repo! The Genetic Opera--4. 2. TWO?! How can you be a 2?!
• Role Models--Having seen a trailer, I've dropped from "soft 3" to 2. 2.
• El cielo gira (The sky turns)--3. 4.
• Soul Men--Soft 3. 3.
• The World Unseen--3. 3.

November 12

• Slumdog Millionaire--OK, Danny Boyle, but still, 3. 3.

November 13

• Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey--I should really be interested, I suppose, in "a documentary portrait of contemporary Pakistan, as a country divided by class, religion and cultural ambitions"; I mean, jeez, it's probably the most important place in the world right now; seriously, get interested! And yet, soft 3. 3.

November 14

• The Beautiful Truth--Barely 2. 2.
• Un conte de Noël (A Christmas tale)--Strong 4. 4 (Amalric).
• Dostana--Sort of a Bollywood I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry/Three's Company? Soft 2. 2.
• The Dukes--No, Not of Hazzard. Of doo-wop: 3, wanting to feel more 4ish. 3.
• Eden--3. 3.
• Das Haus der schlafenden Schönen (House of the sleeping beauties)--May I take the liberty of replaying our previous responses? 2: creeparama! 2, blech.
• How About You--Yet another dysfunctional-family holiday flick; Imelda Staunton's a plus: soft 4. 3+.
• Nobel Son--3. 3+.
• Quantum of Solace--Yeah, sure, 4. 4.
• We Are Wizards--3. 2.

November 19

• Harvard Beats Yale 29-29--5 (see the previous seasonal blurbs if that's a puzzler). 3.
• Special--2. 2.

November 21

• Nerakhoon (The betrayal)--3. 4 (but definite, because of NY immigrant).
• Bolt--3. 1.
• I Can't Think Straight--Lesbian Romeo and Juliet in London; hopeful 3, despite horrible pun of title. 4.
• Lake City--3. 3.
• Twilight--OK, Dr. Debs: you've persuaded me (it certainly wasn't the Times story) to come up to 3. 2.
• Were the World Mine--OK, maybe this is more than fair use, but I must quote Kehr at length: "Cast as Puck in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a gay high school student discovers the recipe for Shakespeare’s love potion and uses it to spread gender confusion throughout his conservative small town"; can you say "either fabulous or fabulously bad"? A hoping-against-hope 3. 3; intriguing.

November 26

• Australia--Maybe it'll be lots better than I fear, but for sure I'll be glad to stop seeing the trailers; skeptical 3. 3-.
• Four Christmases--Seen a trailer now, and notwithstanding Reese and Vince, 2. 3 (cast could charm).
• Milk--5. 4.
• Transporter 3--No. 1.

November 28

• Antarctica--Just a short hop from Australia. Except, of course, that that looks relentless hetero, while this is "a comedy about a brother and sister, both gay, who try to resolve their romantic conflicts with the aid and advice of an overbearing mother, played by the drag performer Noam Huberman under his stage name, Miss Laila Carry." Well, gotta be a better mom than Travolta; 3. 3.
• Rome & Jewel--Gave this a Shakespearean 3 earlier, but now that I've decided to do for Romeo and Juliet this winter what I did for Hamlet last, 5. 3.

December 3

• Staub (Dust)--3. 2.

December 5

• Cadillac Records--Oh, hell, yeah: strong 4. 4.
• Frost/Nixon--4, verging on 5. 4.
• Punisher: War Zone--No, and stop asking me! 1.
• Los cronocrímenes (Timecrimes)--Intriguing but unlikely: hopeful 3. 3.

December 10

• Wendy and Lucy--4. 4.

December 11

• Herbert--"Postmodernist comedy" with a paranormal twist; sure: 4. 3; interesting.

December 12

• Che--The 5est 5 of the season. 5, but prepared for disappointment. Yes, well, revolutionaries must always be.
• Dark Streets--4, as much on the soundtrack as anything else. Hm. 4?
• The Day the Earth Stood Still--Still 3, but leaning toward conditional acceptance of Keanu in the Michael Rennie role. Story in the Times mainly makes me think I should Nf the original, which I haven't seen in decades. 3.
• Delgo--Huh? 2. 1.
• Doubt--Trailer looks terrific; strong 4. 4+.
• Fados--4. 4.
• En la ciudad de Sylvia (In the city of Sylvia)--3. 3.
• Nothing Like the Holidays--Pushed back from 14 November: sign of editing trouble, or just an attempt to avoid the November yulelogjam of holiday flicks? Doubtful 3. 3.
• Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi--2. 2.
• The Reader--4, and I intend to read the novel by then. 4, I guess.
• What Doesn't Kill You--Hopeful 3, maybe even soft 4. 3–; same old crap.
• While She Was Out--Skeptical 3. 2.

December 17

• Gran Torino--Did we know Clint was doubling-down this season? This sounds a little like a repentant Dirty Harry; hopeful 3. 3.
• The Wrestler--Buzz on this has been huge, particularly for Mickey Rourke's performance; directed by Darren Aronofsky, strong 4. 3.

December 19

• The Brothers Bloom--4. 3.
• Nothing But the Truth--Skeptical 3. In fact, let's just say 2: it'd be different if Farmiga starred and Beckinsale was in a supporting role rather than the reverse. 3.
• Seven Pounds--3. 3-.
• The Tale of Despereaux--3. 3.
• Yes Man--Jim, get help, now; 2. 3-.

December 24

• La Graine et le mulet (The secret of the grain)--3, and still pissed off about the whitebread title rendering. 4.
• Theater of War--3. 3.

December 25

• Bedtime Stories--Adam, get help, now; 2. 3–; isn’t this basically Night at the Museum? No, you're confused: see, there's no museum. It's more like Night in the Kids' Bedroom, so way creepier.
• Entre les Murs (The class)--4, but still pissed off about the whitechalkdust title rendering. 4.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--4, looks like the Xmas Day lunch front-runner. 4, I guess.
• Hurricane Season--Doubtful 3. 3-.
• Marley & Me--Ditto doubtful 3. 3+, because dog.
• The Spirit--3. 2.

December 26

• Last Chance Harvey--Hopeful 3. 4.
• Revolutionary Road--Hard 4; maybe I should try to read this in the next few weeks also. 3.
• Valkyrie--Worried 4. 4.
• Waltz with Bashir--3. 3.

December 31

• Defiance--As I've carped repeatedly, don't like the trailer; 3. 3+.
• Good--Hopeful 4; I do like the Viggster. 3+; so 2009 is going to be the Year Against Nazis? Never could have happened pre-Obama.

January 9

• Bride Wars--Why would Anne Hathaway go from Rachel to this? Generous 2. 2.
• Venkovský ucitel (The country teacher)--3. 3+.
• Not Easily Broken--2. 3.
• Serbis--3. 3.
• Üç maymus (Three monkeys)--So I guess this will be only a quarter as good as that other flick? Still, hopeful 3. 3.
• The Unborn--Oy vey; 2. 2.

January 16

• Kirschblüten--Hanami (Cherry blossoms--Hanami)--Soft 3. 3.
• My Bloody Valentine 3-D--Oh, let's just not mess around w/ any numbers here; just say no bloody way. 1.
• Notorious--First it was Spellbound, now another documentary filmmaker steals a mid-'40s one-word Alfred Hitchcock title; next, Lifeboat, about the post-election night GOP; 3. 4, because shot in my ’hood.
• Paul Blart: Mall Cop--Well, something has to be the worst studio film of 2009, doesn't it? 1. 3. THREE?????!!!!!!! Oh, christ, go online and watch the trailer right now!

Burn after blogging

Updated w/ JT's prevacation-hurried, bare-bones numbers.

Ah, Dave Kehr's seasonal preview blurbs in the Times--and this time I am able to find them online, which saves me a lot of work but presents me with an ethical dilemma. Now, granted, my reproducing Kehr's work in full on a blog viewed by maybe a half-dozen people, most of whom get the Times already, is not going to affect circulation. But I'm pretty prickly about copyright issues, being in a biz that rather depends on the copyright.

So while I'll gleefully copy & paste titles and include some cast & crew info (which is of course in the public domain), if you want to read Kehr's blurbs, you're gonna have to go to the Times site and deal with the ads there: they're divided by month, September, October, November, and December.

Looks like a fairly lackluster season, frankly. Where's all the Oscar® fodder? As with last time, I'm in red, Jennie Tonic (to come; check back later) in green.

September, open

• August Evening--If (which is to say if it opens downtown).
• Bangkok Dangerous--No.
• Everybody Wants to Be Italian--No.
• The House of Adam--No.
• Mister Foe (aka Hammam Foe)--If.
• Okie Noodling II--Uh, I seem to have missed the review of this, but I'm gonna say prob'ly not. But you know, I swear I've seen a short documentary on noodling--i.e., barehanded catfish-catching, though I'm damned if I can tell you where or why. Oh, wait! It just came to me: it was at IFC a few months ago.
• Ping Pong Playa--Directed by Jessica Yu (In the Realms of the Unreal, which was exceptionally good, and Protagonist, whom some found ditto); if.
• The Pool--If.
• Save Me--Probably not.
• Un secret--Yes, which is to say even if it requires an M# slot--but I expect it to come to town in any case; oddly, the Times blurb doesn't include the best drawing card for me, Mathieu Amalric.
• Walking on Dead Fish--If: post-Katrina high school football flick narrated by Terry Bradshaw, and it's a damn good title.

September 11

• Able Danger--3.

September 12

• Burn After Reading--5, duh. 5.
• Flow: For Love of Water--3. 4.
• Forgiveness--3. 3.
• The Little Red Truck--3. 3.
• Loins of Punjab Presents--3. 3.
• Moving Midway--Saw trailer, looks potentially intriguing; 4. 3.
• Righteous Kill--Pacino + De Niro + New Haven location shooting = 4. 3.
• Secrecy--3. 3.
• Towelhead--Interesting: still showing on IMDb as Nothing Is Private; Alan Ball, thus 4. 4.
• The Tree of Life--3, though Jews + Italy almost raises it to 4. 3.
• Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys--It could be Tyler Perry's Million Dollar Gift Plus Free Popcorn to Every Moviegoer and I'd still be a 1. 2.
• The Women--A very soft, fearful 4; but even if it sucks, maybe it will inspire people (like me, e.g.) to take another look at the original, from The Movies' Best Year Ever. It seems not to be available currently on DVD, which suggests a lavish reissue upcoming. 2.

September 17

• Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived--Interesting, but . . . 3. 2.

September 18

• Man of Cinema: Pierre Rissient--3. 2.

September 19

• All of Us--3. 3+.
• Amexicano--Hopeful 3. 4+ (blog requirement).
• Appaloosa--Soft 4, strictly on the basis of cast: Ed Harris (who also cowrote and directs), Jeremy Irons, Viggo, and Renée Zellweger. 4.
• Article VI: Faith, Politics, America. Can't find it on IMDb, so, per Kehr: The role of religion in contemporary American politics, as examined by the filmmakers Bryan Hall and Jack Donaldson. So, like Religulous, but seriously, folks? 3.
• Battle in Seattle--Oh, I know I should be interested, but I'm just not: 3. 3.
• The Duchess--I bow to no one in my respect for the consistently ballsy roles La Keira has tackled and the acting chops she has developed so quickly, but I am really freakin' sick of this trailer and I just don't hold out much hope for the film: 3. 4.
• Tropa de Elite (Elite squad)--3, but willing to elevate. 3-.
• Das Fräulein--3. 4.
• Ghost Town--After the disappointment of Hamlet 2, I'm now calling Ricky Gervais the clear winner over Steve Coogan as the funniest Englishman working, and the trailer was amusing, so I'm wide open for this riff on The Sixth Sense: 4. 3.
• Hounddog--Takes a couple low-hangin' fuzzy ones to co-opt this title. Good cast, including Piper Laurie, who I guess has been working regularly all along, but I haven't seen her since . . . OK, finally: The Grass Harp (1995). Lots going on, could be a big mess, but 4. 3.
• Igor--Nice concept, decent trailer: hopeful 3. 3-.
• Lakeview Terrace--Trailer just looks ugly: 2. 2.
• My Best Friend's Girl--2. 2.
• Quilombo Country--Again, no help from IMDb, so: Chuck D of Public Enemy narrates a documentary, written and directed by Leonard Abrams, about the villages established by escaped slaves in Brazil’s hinterlands. Sounds fascinating, 4. 3.
• Bei yazi de nanhai (Taking father home)--A first feature, shot on amateur video; 3. 3.
• A Thousand Years of Good Prayers--3. 2 (Wayne Wang). (She still hasn't forgiven him for The Joy Luck Club.)

September 22

• A Londoni férfi (The man from London)--A Monday opening? Odd. Tilda back in her familiar territory of a film few will see. 3. 3.

September 24

• Stellet licht (Silent light)--3. 4.

September 26

• Blindness--4, despite Manohla Dargis's having pissed all over it at Cannes; based on one of my favorite novels of recent years, by one of my favorite living novelists. Plus, of course, My Future Wife Julianne Moore. 4.
• Choke--Yeah, OK, most offensive poster since . . . ever? But the trailer is a lot more appealing--I mean, Sam Rockwell and Kelly Macdonald, eh? 4. 2.
• Eagle Eye--Shia LaBeouf; nuff said: 2. 3.
• Fireproof--3. 3.
• Forever Strong--2. 2.
• Humboldt County--3. 3.
• The Lucky Ones--Trailer looks pretty gooey; 3. 3.
• Miracle at St. Anna--Speaking of gooey, never would have guessed from trailer that this is a Spike joint; since it is, 4. 3.
• Nights in Rodanthe--3. 3-.
• Obscene--Censorship doc.: 4. 3.
• Ripple Effect--3, but has potential. 3.
• Smother--Hopeful 3. 3-.
• Unspooled--4. 3-.
• Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell--I was 2 based on trailer, but Kehr tells me that the Modern Lovers are in it: 3. 3-.

October 1

• Ballast--4, based largely on Dargis's comments in the preview section. 4.

October 3

• Allah Made Me Funny--Initially read first word as "Allan," which, let's face it, would have been funnier; 3. 3.
• An American Carol--Sounds potentially very righty, though you'd think not, with Jon Voight's participation; 3. 4 (intriguing).
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua--Here it is, Dr. Debs--you know you've been waiting for it! Barely 2. 2.
• The Brothers Bloom--Trailer suggest that Rachel Weisz has a real talent for screwball; 4. 3.
• Flash of Genius--Times story raises 3 to 4 for me. 3.
• How to Lose Friends and Alienate People--Gosh, the trailer looks bad; only the cast makes it a 2. 4.
• Just Buried--Weak 3. 3.
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist--Trailer looks too teen-y, and the leads don't charm me as they seem to charm everyone else. 3 (20-somethings a minus; Peter Sollett a plus).
• The Pleasure of Being Robbed--4. 3-.
• Rachel Getting Married--Potential breakthrough for Anne Hathaway, judging from the trailer; 4. 3.
• Religulous--Braving severe smugness warnings, I'm a 4. 3.

Christ, all that will have opened by the time I get back. Very unlikely I'll get to more than 3 or 4 of those.

October 8

• Delwende--4. 3-.
• RocknRolla--Nice title, but 3. 3.

October 10

• Ashes of Time Redux--3, nearly 4--new score featuring cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma. 2.
• Billy: The Early Years--Graham, i.e.; 2. 3.
• Body of Lies--Soft 4. 3.
• Breakfast with Scot--3. 3.
• City of Ember--4. 4 (Teenagers--arg, why? I know why, but still).
• The Express--Story of Ernie Davis--trailer promises formulaic inspiration; 3. The thirty-seventh inspirational-coach of Dennis Quaid's career. 3.
• Happy-Go-Lucky--Mike Leigh directs an irresistible fresh face, Sally Hawkins; 4. 4+.
• Nights and Weekends--Mumblecore, weak trailer; 2. 3.
• Opa!--Matthew Modine and the Final Crusade! Played the Toronto Film Festival in 2005. Hopeful 3. 3.
• Quarantine--2. 2.

October 15

• Frontrunners--2. 3-.

October 17

• Filth and Wisdom--Soft 3 for the Material Older Woman. 3.
• Good Dick--3. 3.
• Mary--4. 4.
• Max Payne--2 (video game). 2.
• Morning Light--Insufferably self-congratulatory trailer; barely 2. 2.
• The Secret Life of Bees--Paul Bettany a plus; 3. 3.
• Sex Drive--Barely 2. 3-.
• Riparo: Anis tra di noi (Shelter me)--Maria de Medeiros! 4. 3+.
• W.--4, verging on 5. 4 (like the term "biographical fantasy"; corrected Rumsfeld misspelling).
• What Just Happened?--Good trailer, good cast: strong 4. 3.
• Who Does She Think She Is?--Why so many questions all of a sudden? 3. 3+.

October 22

• Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains--No wonder Times omitted the subtitle; 3. 2.

October 24

• Ben X--3, even though I've come to suspect I may have a touch of Asperger’s myself. 2.
• Changeling--Great buzz on Clint's latest, I gather; 4. 3.
• Eden--3. 2.
• Peur(s) du noir (Fear[s] of the dark)--3. 1.
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year--Oh, please. 2.
• Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've loved you so long)--Willing-to-be-seduced 3. 3.
• Låt den rätte komma in (Let the right one in)--Swedish vampires? Oh, hell, yeah! 4. 3.
• News from Home/News from House--3. 3.
• Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom--3. 3.
• Passengers--3. 3-.
• Pride and Glory--3. 3+.
• Roadside Romeo--Bollywood animation; soft 3. 2.
• Saw V--Fuck, no. 1.
• Synecdoche, New York--Need you ask? Charlie Kaufman directs: the season's 5est 5. 5.
• The Universe of Keith Haring--Soft 3. 3.
• Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle (Zidean, a 21st-century portrait)--Merely a 4. 3-.

October 29

• The First Basket--Jewish hoopsters! No, it's not a short: 4. 3-.

October 31

• The Haunting of Molly Hartley--2. 2.
• Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback--Rock, not frock; 3. 2.
• Zack and Miri Make a Porno--Kevin Smith: 4. 3.

November 5

• Tussenstand (Stages)--Wow, seriously intense, but still just 3. 2.

November 7

• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas--Trailer looks syrupy; Vera Farmiga and David Thewlis represent the only hopes; 2. 3-.
• The Guitar--Soft 3. 3.
• JCVD--2, and that high only because Kehr calls it a "self-referential comedy." 3.
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa--No. 2.
• El baño del papa (The pope's toilet)--Finally the answer to the question: Does the pope shit in the woods? 3. 3.
• Pray the Devil Back to Hell--3. 3.
• Repo! The Genetic Opera--But I'm still using it! Too weird not to be a 4. 3.
• Role Models--Soft 3. 2.
• El cielo gira (The sky turns)--Been kicking around festivals since 2004; hopeful 3. 4.
• The World Unseen--Another hopeful 3. 3.

November 8

• Dear Pyongyang--Another one that has been on the festival circuit for a while, this one since 2005; 3. 3.

November 14

• Un conte de Noël (A Christmas tale)--No, I don't think it has anything to do w/ BB guns; soft 4. 4 (Amalric).
• Dostana--"Bollywood production filmed in Miami," Kehr says . . . 2. 2.
• The Dukes--4. 3.
• Lake City--3. 3.
• Nobel Son--Unimpressive trailer; 3. 3.
• Nothing Like the Holidays--Hopeful 3; are we sure this isn't just an English-dubbed Conte de Noël? 3.
• Quantum of Solace--What's your nomination for the worst Bond title ever? Per Kehr: the villain is played by "the gifted French actor Mathieu Amalric, getting a much deserved payday." Amen to that; 4. 4 (Amalric. Plus, great Bond title!).
• The Road--Kehr again: "Another big chunk of Cormac McCarthy served up for awards season"; 4. 3.
• Soul Men--3; adios, Chef. 3.
• We Are Wizards--3. 2.

November 19

• Harvard Beats Yale 29-29--It was the headline in the local paper, after the Hated Despised Crimson rallied from 16 points down in the last minute to tie. I wasn't here then, of course, but know about it because I edited the autobiography of the longtime Yale coach Carm Cozza. The rare 5 for a film whose makers I know nothing of (though there's apparantly an interview with a lineman named Jones). 3.

November 21

• Nerakhoon (The betrayal)--3. 4.
• Bolt--3. 2.
• The Soloist--Trepidatious 4. 3 (didn't we just see this?).
• Special--2. 3-.
• Twilight--2. 2.

November 26

• Australia--Trailer looks iffy, and I don't trust Baz; 3. 3-.
• Four Christmases--Another freakin' X-mas family-dramas flick? 3, strictly on Reese and Vince. 3.
• Milk--4, nearly 5. 4.
• Transporter 3--No. 1.

November 28

• Rome & Jewel--A Shakespearean 3. 3-.
• Slumdog Millionaire--3. 3.
  

December 3

• Staub (Dust)--As a Mets fan who actually got to see Le Grand Orange throw out the first pitch at a game at Shea during this, the stadium's farewell season, I naturally prefer the German title of this documentary; still, 3. 3-.

December 5

• Frost/Nixon--4. 4.
• Punisher: War Zone--No, though I like Ray Stevenson from his Rome days. 1.
• Tôkyô!--3, though Michel Gondry's participation elevates it near 4. 3.

December 10

• Wendy and Lucy--4. 4 (but Dargis loved Old Joy; I didn't).
  

December 12

• Entre les Murs (The class)--4, but why do they do this to titles? 3.
• The Day the Earth Stood Still--Keanu in the Michael Rennie role? Are you fucking kidding me? Nervous 3. 3.
• Defiance--Soft 3; trailer makes me wonder why you'd cast midlist English-speaking actors rather than eastern Europeans. 3.
• Doubt--Haven't seen the acclaimed play, but great cast, and to me John Patrick Shanley will always be the guy who wrote Moonstruck; 4. 3+.
• En la ciudad de Sylvia (In the city of Sylvia)--3. 3.
• Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi--2. 3.
  

December 19

• Seven Pounds--3. 3.
• The Tale of Despereaux--Hopeful 3. 2.
• Yes Man--2; sounds really stupid, Zooey notwithstanding. 3.
  

December 24

• Fados--4. 4.
• Theater of War--Hopeful 3. 3.

December 25

• Bedtime Stories--Will this be my Lonely-Pseudojew-on-Christmas lunchtime movie, ahead of the Chinese carryout for dinner? Uh . . . maybe: wistful 3. 3.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--This looks likelier, especially given how disappointed I was with the similarly themed novel, The Confessions of Max Tivoli. 3.
• Hurricane Season--As Kehr asks, "What’s the holiday season without an inspirational sports movie?" Doubtful 3. 2.
• Marley & Me--And an inspirational dog movie, too! Doubtful 3, though I'm darned glad Owen Wilson will be around for the premiere. 3+ (because, dogs).
• The Spirit--As my son-in-law put it, I enjoyed Sin City, but I never need to see another film like it; despite all the promised cleavage, a flaccid 3. 3.

December 26

• Revolutionary Road--Kate and Leo, together again, on dry Connecticut land, w/ Mr. Kate directing; rock-solid 4. 4.
• La Graine et le mulet (The secret of the grain)--What is wrong with these people? Am I nuts, or is the literal translation of the title, The Grain and the Mule, way more evocative than what they came up with? 3. 4.
• Valkyrie--4, based on Bryan Singer and great Brit-playing-German cast after Cruise. 3+.
• Waltz with Bashir--3. 3.

Sometime in December, but omitted from the Times blurbs

• Che--Four-hour-plus magnum opus from Soderbergh, starring Benicio; 5 x 5 x 5. Also 5 cubed.