http://www.yesweekly.com/articles.sec-292-1-burger-reviews.html From the opening frames of the film, in which Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) arrive at the title locale, it%uFFFDs immediately apparent that nothing is quite what it seems. The fun, ostensibly, is in trying to piece together what%uFFFDs wrong. ]]> The histrionics come hot and heavy in The Last Sation (opening Friday), an adaptation of Jay Pariani%uFFFDs novel by director Michael Hoffman, which dramatizes the last days of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy (played here by the inestimable Christopher Plummer). ]]> The longawaited, long-delayed and infinitely disappointing new version of Universal%uFFFDs The Wolfman is the sort of no-brainer that gets bogged down by its bigness. Think of it as a big, bad Wolf %uFFFD although not without its intermittent attributes. ]]> For his role as veteran country singer %uFFFDBad%uFFFD Blake in Crazy Heart, Jeff Bridges has dressed down for the role. He%uFFFDs packed on a few pounds, grown a grizzly gray beard and adopted a slow-moving Texas twang. These are the sort of mechanics that make Academy voters sit up and take notice. ]]> Noted fashion designer Tom Ford makes an auspicious film debut with his adaptation of Christopher Isherwood%uFFFDs 1964 novel A Single Man, which offers a spectacular showcase for leading man Colin Firth, who deservedly received an Oscar nomination as Best Actor for his deeply moving performance. ]]> Gibson%uFFFDs Tom Craven is a veteran Boston police detective (replete with accent) whose reunion with daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is twice interrupted %uFFFD first by Emma%uFFFDs violent illness, then by her violent death via a masked gunman waiting outside her door. ]]> The great Christopher Plummer plays the title role, that of the immortal (and occasionally inebriated) carnival barker and magician who rattles through contemporary London in his rickety, horse-drawn carriage, stopping only to present one of his... ]]> Jackson doesn't specifically depict Susie's murder, thereby maintaining a more audience-friendly PG-13 rating (and, by contrast, angering some of the novel's more fervent admirers), yet the build-up to the act is so excruciatingly suspenseful that a more explicit approach is hardly necessary. ]]> Screenwriter Oren Moverman makes an auspicious directorial debut with The Messenger, a topical and hard- by Mark Burger hitting drama contributing columnist that ranks among 2009's best films. ]]> Without question one of the year's best and brightest films, Up in the Air is a sparkling adaptation of Walter Kirn's novel, intelligently realized by screenwriters Jason Reitman, who also directed, and Sheldon Turner. ]]> The world according to Joel and Ethan Coen is a profoundly unsettling place. Even in the best of times, it is filled with uncertainty and pettiness. Violence bubbles beneath the surface, waiting for a crack big enough to explode through. And honest people constantly find themselves struggling against a merciless tide with little to steady them. ]]> Forget all that hooey about decking the halls and roasting chestnuts on open fires. What the holidays are really about is the exercise of passive aggression toward your loved ones. You could be forgiven for thinking so after watching Everybody's Fine. Or, as I have come to know it, The Sad Old Man and His Four Horrible Children. ]]> The One Last Heist structure is an old one, but not unwelcome here: Mr. Fox (George Clooney) loves raiding chicken coops, but Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) doesn't like the very real element of danger in the work. Pregnant with their first child, she asks him to look for work that doesn't involve getting shot at by angry farmers. ]]> Things begin to turn around when Precious enrolls in an alternative school to work toward her GED. Under the guidance of her teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), she improves her reading aptitude, makes a few friends and learns to speak out, a skill that had almost been beaten out of her. ]]> Final Destination might have been brainless fun, but it was not a good movie. Its first sequel was not a good movie either, but it was virtually the same movie, which was such a defiant act of mediocrity I almost had to applaud it. Almost. ]]> Before 'Nazi' became a convenient, all-purpose analogy for anyone who disagrees with your political views, it was the name for members of a fascist movemen responsible for the most protracted, detestable act of violence in the modern age. ]]> Watching a bad movie is sort of like watching the postseason NIT. Sure, it%uFFFDs not the Big Dance, but that doesn't mean there isn't a victory to be had. It's clear almost immediately that Orphan is not a good movie, but it is so audacious in its badness it surely qualifies for a trophy of some kind. The film, a Hand That Rocks The Cradle-style piece of suburban suspense, examines what happens when well-meaning, well-to-do John and Kate ]]> Here%uFFFDs one dubious advantage the new Friday the 13 th has over other unnecessary horror franchise revamps: No matter how bad it is, it couldn%uFFFDt possibly be worse than, say, Friday the 13 th Part VI. Any promise this series once had has been, like Jason Vorhees himself, dismembered, drowned, burned and buried over 10 progressively idiotic chapters (11 if you count Freddy vs. Jason). ]]>