by Tony Medley

After the Wedding (10/10): This is a captivating story with the best ensemble cast acting of the young year. Each of the characters, led by Mads Mikkelsen (Le Chiffre in Casino Royale), Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgård, and Stine Fischer Christensen, tells their story with their eyes, all of them expertly directed by Susanne Bier. This is not a short movie, but I didn’t look at my watch once. Bring handkerchiefs. In Danish.

Fracture (9/10): Terrific acting by Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike and the entire cast and a witty, inventive script by Daniel Pyne and Glenn Gers are enhanced by Gregory Hoblit’s better-than-Hitchcock direction. He uses unique camera angles and wonderful, suspenseful music to tell the story of Hopkins, who admits shooting his unfaithful wife, acting as his own defense counsel against Gosling’s prosecution. Not as simple as it sounds as Hopkins sets devious traps for the unsuspecting Gosling. A sharp lawyer could figure it out quickly, but most won’t.

The Valet (9/10): A brilliant, hilarious farce, written and directed by Francis Veber, about how a billionaire industrialist tries to manipulate the lives of his supermodel mistress and a car park valet to hide his affair from his wife. Naturally, his plans don’t work out as planned and things go from bad to hilarious. In French.

Disturbia (8/10): A relatively faithful copy of Rear Window (1954), even to the slow first half, and a good performance by David Morse in the Raymond Burr role of the serial murder suspect. The high-tension last half more than makes up for the draggy first half. I thought it substantially better than Rear Window, which, for me, is faint praise.

The Lookout (8/10): Another slow first half that’s ameliorated by first rate performances by former child star Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock From the Sun), Jeff Daniels as his blind mentor, and Matthew Goode as the charming bad guy who cons Gordon-Levitt. This is an entertaining caper flick with a twist, one that shows handicapped people as people just like everyone else, and who can survive in a non-handicapped world.

Jindabyne (8/10): When four Aussies, headed by Gabriel Byrne, go on a fishing trip and find a girl’s body in the river, they tie it to a tree and continue their trip. When they report it upon their return, all hell breaks loose. Exacerbating matters, Byrne’s wife, Laura Linney, is less than understanding in this intriguing 123-minute study of the different ways men and women react. What’s really unusual is that director Ray Lawrence shoots every scene in just one take. Shoot it once; print it.

Next (8/10): Despite the expected plot holes, this is an intriguing, perplexing, up-tempo time warper enhanced by exceptional cinematography, an interesting script, and a great cast.

In the Land of Women (7/10): Despite the dubious plot of a 26-year-old charming stranger, Adam Brody, to whom women, like mother Meg Ryan and teenage daughter Kristen Stewart, confide their deepest, darkest secrets, and a shameful generalized characterization that octogenarians (Olympia Dukakis) are all irrational and senile, this is an interesting 98-minute experience.

Red Road (4/10): The graphic sex scene and the wisdom of including subtitles to counteract the heavy Scottish accents in this thriller to the contrary notwithstanding, the only thrill for me was when it finally ended.

The Condemned (4/10): While its adrenaline and story, taking reality TV shows to the extreme, hold interest, the gross-out graphic violence is revolting (but what would you expect from Producer Vince McMahon, the billionaire wrestling czar, Hamlet?).

Now playing in the Ninth Circle of Dante’s Inferno for those condemned to watch and rot for the rest of eternity:

The Last Time (0/10): In the style of Mamet, this is a profanity-laced tale so totally divorced from reality it epitomizes inanity.

The TV Set (0/10): There is a good satire to be told about pitching a TV series, but this gawdawful thing isn’t it.