Usually movies that I don’t think my husband would like I reserve for Netflix, but because I had heard the scenery was breathtaking, The Way was one I wanted to see on the big screen. I was also concerned that this movie would be at the theaters for only a…  [more]

Is it possible to be preachy about a lack of faith? Doubt and anger are the twin themes of The Grey, yet the adventure movie hammers them home with all the obviousness of a fire-and-brimstone sermon. It's a fine film - gloomy, tense and with ambitions beyond its killer-wolves conceit…  [more]

I have my problems with Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" (the first third in particular, which has way too much inspirational plowing). Yet in its consideration of the brutalities of war and the scars left on home-bound soldiers, the movie is of vital, timely importance - for the United States as…  [more]

A career-defining film from director Terrence Malick and a comedy about an insurance agent gone wild at a business convention vied for the top spot on my list. Yes, it was that rich of a movie year. 1. "The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick - the pretentious poet of American…  [more]

It's being billed as the ultimate piece of Christmas counter-programming: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," a serial-killer thriller featuring rape, murder and dismemberment, opening on the eve of the year-end holidays. Yet the irony about this nasty piece of popular entertainment is that it isn't dark enough. Adapted from…  [more]