Love and Other Drugs

Gyllenhaal returns to cinematic wife, who now has damaged nervous system instead of broke back. Moving and poignant film that tries too hard to go too many directions at once. The tragic romance, the business drama, and the attempt to be super-bad leave a limp structure in need of medicine.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Gosling plays unfairly attractive mentor in The 40-Year-Old Monogamist. Basically an extended episode of an intricately plotted sitcom that lands laughs and tears with several ingeniously choreographed scenes. Drags a bit long at the end and remains morally ambiguous throughout, but holds its own through brilliant plot-twists and wicked wit.

The Ides of March

Old-fashioned political drama. Witty banter of a Sorkin script without clever plotting or potent subtlety. The messages are nothing new and story seems to build to shameless punch-line but even in spite of unrelated plot-points still carries suspense to the end. If Clooney went into politics it would be unfair.

Drive

Winding Refn revs up for the gold after Bronson’s disappointing bronze. Gosling proves you can’t judge a notebook by its cover in a film that’s crazy and lovely but far from stupid. Brooks and Hellboy have their careers resurrected. Unbelievably beautiful and not because of Mulligan and the frozen strippers.

Cowboys and Aliens

Independence day in Arizona. James Bond’s magic bracelet helps him fight not so Super eight thousand alien gold-diggers, because they stupidly abducted Indiana Wayne’s milkshake hungry son. Ham-handed character development, ridiculously silly story, and inanely Wilde phoenix scene add up to a film that tries too hard. Camp vs. A-listers.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Amazing effects, fantastic character development and plotting, and an alarming degree of respect for source material genetically engineer one of the best prequels ever. Familiar turf for all actors involved. Henderson re-unites with Harry. Malfoy stays douchy. Green Goblin relearns the dangers of modern science, and King Kong goes ape.

Captain America

Evans flames on patriotically in this exceptionally simple action flick. Marvelous performances and aesthetic make up for complete absence of plot originality. Basically a fast guy with a strong shield does exactly what he was supposed to do (fights Agent Red), without any internal conflict, plot twists, or historical relevance.

Batman Forever

Schumacher’s warmup for even bigger flop features odd choice heroes but brilliant bad guys. Carrey finally finds his niche and Tommy’s two face, though worse scripted, seems a prophetic prediction of Ledger’s Joker. Comes complete with all the cheese and camp of comic books, but lacks heart of other films.

Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Disney doesn’t make a decent epic, so someone else does for them. Best yet of Narnia franchise. Still religiously infused, still kind of corny, but finally well-acted, smoothly scripted and rendered on appropriate scale. Eustace is well cast and better as a dragon, and Caspian has a major stardust flashback.

Unknown

Neeson’s life gets Taken away, and no one has faith that he’s actually Aslan. Hitchcock-esque thriller that actually ends in the only rational, albeit implausible conclusion. Bit cheesy at times, but overall a fairly decent genre flick. Kruger is inglorious at best and Langella can’t get out of the box.