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Music and Lyrics (10/10): I had a smile on my face the entire time I watched this delightful light comedy with good music. Hugh Grant, who just might be as good as his namesake, Cary, has such impeccable timing that watching him utter these lines and make them work is worth the price of admission.

Black Book (10/10): Highlighted by a courageous performance by the often naked Carice Van Houten, this tense drama of the Dutch underground during WWII is brilliantly directed by Paul Verhoeven. Van Houten, whose undaunted, effervescent character is a composite of real Dutch resistance fighters, goes through love, sacrifice, and betrayal. The supporting cast, headed by Sebastian Koch as the head of the Dutch SD fighting the Resistance who gets involved with Van Houten, is exceptional. How good is this? Despite its 145-minute running time, I didn’t look at my watch once. In Dutch, German, English, and Hebrew. Opens March 9.

Lives of Others (8/10): What a film! Centered on a spectacular performance by Ulrich Müle, aided by Sebastian Koch, and Martina Gedeck, this 2:17 film is a slow but mesmerizing look at how East Germany bugged and harassed its citizens during the cold war. In German.

Days of Glory (Indigènes) (8/10): Although too long with a bit too much talking, this is an exceptionally well-made war movie based on a true story, indicting the French for the shabby way they treated these Algerian Muslims who fought for France in WWII and only to have the French renege on their obligation to pay them what they were due. The battle with the Germans in Alsace at the end is as brilliant a battle sequence as you will see in a movie. It’s brutal and tough without being unnecessarily graphic. In French.

Avenue Montaigne (Fauteuils D’Orchestre) (7/10): A clever tale of how the guileless personality of a waitress, Cecile de France, at a chic bistro on Avenue Montaigne, the center of the arts in Paris, affects the people upon whom she waits. In French.

Factory Girl (5/10): Despite compelling performances by the gorgeous Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce as Andy Warhol, this biopic of troubled ‘60s icon Edie Sedgwick is disappointingly uninvolving.

Breach (3/10): Being an FBI Agent is mostly slow, detailed, boring, monotonous, tedious work. Sitting through this film full of derivative scenes of contrived tension about how FBI traitor Robert Hanssen was caught is excellent training for anyone who wants this kind of work.

Because I Said So (1/10): If you want to know why “chick flick” is a term of opprobrium, this film about a suffocating mother, with unrealistic frank sexual dialogue between mother and daughters, will explain it for you. As Diane Keaton chews the scenery, Mandy Moore gives a valiant performance with inferior material. The music is good, but relegated to the background. Maybe women will like this, although I don’t see how. Why would a woman like a movie that insults her gender? A man shouldn’t be seen within 100 yards of it. In chick talk.

Ghost Rider (1/10): Epitomizes the vacuity of the American film industry, beholden as it is to special effects, while ignoring script, story, and cohesion.

The Astronaut Farmer (1/10): It strains credulity to think that anyone would make a movie that strains credulity like this one. Instead of standing for following your childhood dreams, instead it glorifies madness and familial irresponsibility. If it isn’t the dumbest movie ever made, it’s close.

Read full reviews at www.tonymedley.com.

 

 

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