Warm Bodies:

Awww! Sweet for Valentine's Day, as long as semi-rotted flesh, dead cannibals, and face-smearing zombie-goop doesn't gross you out. At first the lead zombie's nostalgia reflex surviving rigor mortis seems odd, but his OCD as a collector of things that hint at love are what keeps some life in those strange ol' bones, and if any zombie can collect on a hot crush, it's our boy, Rrrrr. For a dead Romeo, he really lives it up! His driving instructor is some hot stuff, too. Will he thaw, or will he gnaw? 7/10

Beautiful Creatures:

Two worlds in beautiful chaotic collision, coming of age, young love, elders all fighting each other, ancient meets ancient in a temporal pocket just a stone's throw back from modernity. Trust me, Romeo really is a good guy, and Juliet is all hot and magic. The story's as old as dirt, but the circumstances are cool enough to bust the bible belt. More lively and fun than Twilight, but not as dramatic, with half the saccarine content. 8/10

Dan

A Good Day To Die Hard:

Everything can be blown up, you can bet on it. Parent-child relationships, friendships, buildings, vehicles, aircraft, anything. If you can't blow it up, you can shoot it. Violence is a joke, a cliche, a salve. It's even cute now. Plus, there's a great new Rolling Stones song during the credits. Go, cool Bruce! 6/10

Dan

The Impossible:

Intense...but how could a tsunami that killed 250,000 people not be? Granted, it focused on the - true, non-fictional - story of a white european family in an Asian disaster, but the people doing much if the heavy lifting are locals. This story shows the fragility of modern society...and the pull-togetherness of most of humanity in the face of disaster. I think if an apocalypse happened, even in the gun-nut USA, people would mostly leave the guns in the water and help each other. People are better than what the "news" outlets and Hollywood portray when it comes to the real-life hard times. The only thing I would change about this film would be to show more of the local folks' stories. 8/10.

Life of Pi 3-D:

Cosmic, cool as all get-out, beautiful, beautiful cinematography, wonderful acting, brave, surprising, questioning, philosophical. MUST-SEE. However, there is no way in Hades a starving tiger wouldn't have munched Mowgli. Best. CGI. Tiger. Ever. 9.9/10

Hobbit Part 1:

Wow, Gandalf, that cool! Awesome in IMAX 3D, this does total justice to the story. I loved everything about it, yesss, Preciousesss! 10/10

Les Miserables...

Wonderfully-done. As rough as the story is, love's triumph over oppression and elitism is a beautiful song for Christmas. The acting, cinematography, and singing were spectacular. I would just rather that an English Cockney accent not be substituted so freely for a French accent. 9/10

Dan

Anna Karenina

Classic love story by Tolstoy set in Russia in the North. Great acting, fantastic cinematography, but odd transitions from scene-to-scene, with greatly-exaggerated "life is all a stage" effect. 7/10

Merry Christmas!

Dan

Skyfall

Bond, really, really great James Bond. I think this is the best Bond movie since the early 1970's. There are several themes running through it, and it has a complex storyline that has some cool gadgets and special effects, but isn't over-reliant on them. There are some treats in here for long-term Bond fans as well. Must-see for the Bond genre. 10/10

Dan

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two

Arguably the beat in the series. Fantastic cinematography and musical accompaniment are a given. So are physically beautiful people...and heavy, angst-filled drama and saccharine-sweet romance. Theres some humor and some really cool action, with a twist. If you love the series, you'll love this. If you hate it...well, you can't win them all. 8/10

The Sessions

Hilarious, sweet, heartwarming and heartbreaking all in one, a movie for poets, romantics, and human beings. Not-to-be-missed. 9/10

Dan

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower:

The surprise sleeper film that took me by storm. I see Academy nominations all over this film. You'd expect this to be along the lines of "Sixteen Candles," or "The Breakfast Club," and you'd be right - but this movie is also far deeper than either. You'll feel all the pain and anguish and heady joy of young love, with some very surprising adult subjects and twists that will blow you mind. All three of the young lead actors give incredible performances, and you completely believe that they ARE these characters. The supporting cast does a phenomenal job as well, and you don't think about Harry Potter for more than a couple of seconds. This is not a film to be missed!!

10/10

Dan

Cloud Atlas

Amazing film. I missed a couple of the character swaps. What an incredible amount of ground to cover! I loved the devilish character that haunted the reluctant hero after the collapse, but the futuristic part really blew it out of the park in several ways, too. They did an excellent job with this, especially transitioning between time periods without making it feel choppy.

8/10

Dan

Argo

You get the feeling that our hero loved Star Wars and comic books as a kid, and damn it if Ben Afleck doesn't look like he really BELONGS in the 70's! They nailed the "feel" of that era perfectly. I even loved the comedic touch - it was just light enough not to take away from the suspense and take over the film, but took just enough edge off to let the movie have heart with the tension. Beautifully-done.

8/10

Dan

Looper

Surprisingly good. As sick as I am of apocalyptic crap, this story has depth and twists I never saw coming. There's a lot of redeeming qualities and phenomenal acting. This is far from "just another post-apocalypse sci-fi flick." I also like the way Leavitt (spelling?) Was able to incorporate just enough of Willis's facial expressions to make the transition believable. It was subtle, but important. Go. 8/10

The Master

I don't get it. The acting was phenomenal. The story was creepy and non-sensical. The cast and cinematographers did their jobs well, but the script bombed for me. 4/10

Dan

Samsara -

Stunningly beautiful, ghastly, and everything in between without a single word. This movie blew my mind with an incredible array of cultures and multiple forms of collective mind-sets, and it spoke to my gut about deep time. 10/10.

Dan

Celeste & Jesse Forever -

If there was ever a way to F...oul up something beautiful, these two should teach a class on it. Then again, maybe they are. This was a lot better than I thought it would be. There's a line in here that cuts to the bone: "I can't believe I'm having..." Damn, I can't believe I can't finish the line at the heart of everything without spoiling it. Pay attention, class. 8/10

The music was nice, too.

Dan

Total Recall

Did I just put the burn on the coolest transportation system in the world - literally in the world - or did some nerd with a computer & weird drugs plant that shit in my head? Is the hot brunette with guns on the left my girlfriend, or is the one on the right my wife? Will I ever be done trying to find myself? Will it ever stop being dark and rainy when I get home from work? Will it ever stop being dark, rainy, and explosive in sci-fi flicks? Why did I leave myself alI this electro-bling that I didn't know I knew was there? This movie has its fun points, great effects, and ADHD action flashes, and a scowling Kate Beckinsale in tight pants,  but you'll never really know if any of these questions are answered, or if it's all just a dream. Fun, though. 6/10

Dan

Joker

Bollywood meets Ed Wood, with lots of color, dancing, romance, and an epic lunatic fringe search for ET, with spectacularly funny and heart-warming results. Where else could you get the alien boogie, fireflies, pumpkins, beautiful dancing girls, NASA scientists, the FBI, crop circles, WW II aircraft, and exotic ruins in the forgotten corners of rural India? We LOVED IT!~ 10/10

Boogie on,

Dan