	Movies An Education A Solid Period Piece By Mel Valentin (Oct 15, 2009) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. An Education, a coming-of-age drama directed by Lone Scherfig and adapted by Nick Hornby from Lynn Barber’s memoir, arrives in North American movie theaters ten months after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this past January. Minus a third-act stumble, the praise received on the festival circuit for An Education -- Scherfig’s unobtrusive direction, Hornby’s deft screenplay and newcomer Carey Mulligan’s performance as Jenny -- is more than justified. More
	Movies Where the Wild Things Are The Wild Rumpus Starts By Rossiter Drake (Oct 15, 2009) Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. How much you appreciate Spike Jonze’s beautiful adaptation of author Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are might depend, more than anything else, on your willingness to be challenged. Unlike many movies aimed at young audiences, this one is neither facile nor sugarcoated. It is uncompromising in its intelligence and unflinching in its depiction of the downside of childhood. More
	Movies The Boys are Back A Tearjerker...for Men By Martin Malloy (Oct 9, 2009) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. Who said tearjerkers were a women’s thing? Based on a true story, Clive Owen stars as Joe, a sportswriter who recently lost his young wife to cancer and is left to raise their 5-year old son. Owen is the shining star of a competent character piece that’s able to stay grounded despite its emotional material. More
	Movies A Serious Man Another Coen Brothers Masterpiece By Mel Valentin (Oct 9, 2009) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Less a laugh-inducing absurdist farce than a head-scratching existential black comedy, A Serious Man belongs in the same category as the Coen Brothers better (or even best) films. More
	Movies Couples Retreat Not Believable…or Funny By Matt Forsman (Oct 9, 2009) Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars. Conceived and written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn (of Swingers fame), Couples Retreat is a frighteningly contrived and clichéd romantic comedy. More
	Movies Paranormal Activity Believe the Hype By Matt Forsman (Oct 9, 2009) Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Film critics can become a bit jaded over time. The sad reality is that most films released in a given year just simply aren’t worth your time. Most studios are more focused on demographics and marketing, rather than crafting a quality story. But, sometimes the simplest ideas make the best films and sometimes you can actually believe the marketing hype. Paranormal Activity is not just one of the scariest films you will see this year, it is also one of the best films you will see this year. More
	Movies Passing Strange Art Imitating Life By Richard von Busack (Oct 2, 2009) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. "Passing Strange" is the one-named artist Stew’s autobiographical hit rock musical, as recorded during its closing night at the Belasco Theater in New York in summer 2008, deftly filmed by Spike Lee for television and now having a limited theatrical run. To someone who absorbed from the very vibe of L.A. that black people were the Otherest Other of them all, it’s passing strange to see how similar life was just a few exits east down the Santa Monica Freeway. More
	Movies Coco Before Chanel The Bumpy Road to Becoming an Icon By Rossiter Drake (Oct 2, 2009) Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. Gabrielle Chanel was, by the evidence presented in director Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel, a difficult, even unpleasant woman. Rarely does she smile, and even more infrequently might her sentiments be mistaken for tender. She views the men in her early life as means to an end, but why shouldn’t she? They often regard her, in turn, with cold indifference and undisguised condescension. More
	Movies Zombieland A Triumph of Style and Silliness By Rossiter Drake (Oct 2, 2009) Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. There is no social satire to be gleaned from the stylishly staged skull crunching in Ruben Fleischer’s post-apocalyptic comedy Zombieland -- and not much in the way of serious horror. The first-time feature director (formerly of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”) aims more for laughs than for the unrelenting dread of George A. Romero’s Living Dead movies, and he succeeds almost effortlessly: At 81 minutes, his debut is cheerfully macabre, briskly paced, brimming with demented energy, and otherwise totally disposable. More
	Movies Whip It …Real Good (Mostly) By Mel Valentin (Oct 2, 2009) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. It’s hard to believe that Drew Barrymore’s career has stretched across three decades. Barrymore started her own production company, Flower Films, almost fifteen years ago, producing ten films in that time period. Directing seemed the next, logical step for Barrymore. Her first film as a director, Whip It, an adaptation of Shauna Cross’ novel, is a coming-of-age, teen romance, and sports comedy mash-up. More

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