Gina Carano, known as "Crush" on Gladiator a former #3 Womens MMA in the 145 lb. category, plays Mallory a highly trained private operative for a private blacks government contractor, a few steps away from where a government can or wants to take responsibility.  After freeing a captive journalist, the journalist is found dead, and Mallory believes something is definitely wrong.  When her partner in the operation trys to kill her, she knows for sure and has to go underground from the operations company and their people as well as all governments. 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is excellent. Definitely deserves its Oscar Best Picture nomination. Film is about a boy with borderline Asperger's whose father (Tom Hanks) is killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. The boy finds a key in a vase in his father's closet and sets out to find the lock that the keys fits into. He is obsessive in his pursuit and is estranging himself from his loving mother (Sandra Bullock).

The Artist is a wonderful B&W silent film from France set in the late 20's and early 30's. It is about a silent film star who is not willing to adapt to "talkies". And it is also about the young talkie star who loves him in spite of intransigence.

The acting is fabulous, the silence works wonderfully (with a few intermittent bits of sound where very very appropriate.) The B&W filmography and the music sound track are perfect.

This is definitely a Oscar best film competitor.

Do not miss it.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is excellent. Definitely deserves its Oscar Best Picture nomination. Film is about a boy with borderline Asperger's whose father (Tom Hanks) is killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. The boy finds a key in a vase in his father's closet and sets out to find the lock that the keys fits into. He is obsessive in his pursuit and is estranging himself from his loving mother (Sandra Bullock).

This movie undoubtedly plays to the fans. A lot of Bella talking in the background, not unlike some of the narration in the books. If your a fan you'll love this, and if your not and just wandered into the movie you'll wonder, "Whats going on here"?

I honestly failed to see what was entertaining about watching a movie of a 37 year old alcoholic woman having a crisis.   Mavis Gary, ( Charlize Theron ) is a writer of books for teens, she is under a deadline to produce the last book of a series.  Her apartment looks like a hurricane went through it or a 21 year old 1995 Internet developer might live there.  She is recently divorced, has a small toy dog, and power drinks on a consistent basis. In short she is an alcoholic, a functional one of sorts. 

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the classic John LeCarre spy story set in the early 1960's in Britain and Turkey. I read and enjoyed all of LeCarre's novels. This is probably his most well-known and beloved.

The film is very very good. You will recognize much of the cast as actors from the BBC stable and from British film. And given the general high quality of British actors, you won't be disappointed in their performances.

You must watch the film closely as it takes some concentration to keep all the characters straight but in the end, it all comes together quite well.

We Bought A Zoo is a fun, cheerful, feel good movies based upon the true story of the Dee's family (recently widowed father with a son and a daughter) who quits his job as an international journalist and buys a dilapidated private zoo on 16 acres. The zoo has been seized by the state and the state has kept on the (very eccentric) staff to maintain the zoo while it looks for a buyer.

Hugo is a new Martin Scorsese film (there is a 3D version) nominally aimed a kids. But this is a thoroughly enjoyable film for adults, especially for those who love film and its history.

Recently, Scorsese did a documentary (which was excellent) on Italian film. As well as being an excellent director, he is a true lover and historian of film. The documentary is excellent...look for it on Netflix or TCM.

My Week With Marilyn is a very moving but brief glimpse into the life of Marilyn Monroe from the diary of Colin Clark, a 23 year old British kid who wants to be a film producer. Monroe is in England at Pinehurst Studios to film The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier. One feels so sorry and so sad for Monroe, a beautiful sensitive young woman who only wants to be loved for herself and is besieged by not only the public, but her staff.