The Fourth Kind

Title refers to Alien obduction. Supposedly true story of a Pyschology Dr living in Nome Alaska who has more than one terrifying and deadly encounter with the unknown. Interesting part of the story is that the FBI has spent numerous hours investigating people missing people in Nome--much more so that any other place per capita wise. Movie was sequenced around actual footage of the Psy Dr. and events in her life. 2 bananas

2012

WOW! Terrific special effects makes this above average saga of the world ending a real blast to see. With the earths core temperature increasing the worlds leaders devise a plan to save a selected few. John Cusack gives a somewhat hokey performance but is still entertaining. 21/2 hours fly by as there are some fantastic destruction scenes. See it for fun. 3 bananas

The Box

Apparently a NASA scientist is hit by a lighting bolt at the precise moment a deep space vehicle lands on Mars, thus conferring on him extraordinary powers that are known but concealed by NSA and NASA. One of the powers is to give to selected people one million dollars if they willingly push a button in THE BOX which in turn will cause someones death. Up to this point I could follow this movie, then it really gets bizarre. If you can follow it good luck. 11/2 bananas

Men who Stare at Goats

George Clooney, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges are part of a newly formed psy-ops Army corps during the Iraq war. First half of movie is very funny with the group looking more like a 70's hippy group. Second half of movie somewhat dark with many swipes taken at the current Administration. Seems like the Writer/Director couldn't decide what kind of movie this should be. See it for the some laughs but comes up short. 21/2 bananas

Coco before Chanel

Audrey Taetau stars as the French fashion hat and clothes designer. Beautifully filmed movie shows us how she was able to reach the peaks she did. Interesting story of how she was able to work the French male system, long before women were considered equals. With sub titles but well worth it as this could go down as a classic! I loved it--31/2 bananas

An Education

16 year old English school girl , who sets her sights on going to Oxford, get romantically involved with an older con man with diasterous results. Well done but at times uncomfortable, I could not figure how this was going to end. Only playing in the artsy theaters but worth seeing. 3 bananas

Cirque Du Freak--Vampires Assistant

Fairly funny Vampire movie. John C Reily is the good Vampire battling the bad ones in order to save his newly blooded assistant vampire. 2 bananas

Saw VI

If you like, literally, lots of blood and guts mixed in a fairly entertaining plot see this. Senior manager in a health insurance company rejects the wrong person; manager finds himself with 90 minutes in make decisions that affect the lives of people associated with him. Not for the squeamish of heart. Helps to have seen previous Saws as there is a lot of looking back, but not absolutely necesary. I liked it. Not going to win an Emmy but for It's creativity- 3 bananas

Amelia

Soapy some what boring depiction of later years in Earharts life ending with her disappearance over Howell Island. Swank is a drop dead ringer for the famous woman flyer; and Richard Gere portrays her husband who owned Putnam publishing and was her marketing manager. Turns out Amelia wasn't as pure as people thought. 2 bananas

Where the Wild Things Are

Is the story of a boy who feels repressed by his family so he escapes to a fairy tale land inhabited by giant weird looking animals where he is appointed King only to find that the same kind of problems exist there . Movie is adapted and directed by Spike Jonze from supposedly very famous childrens book. I could not get into the movie, maybe it is just for kids. 2 bananas