A week away from the official start to the holiday season release bonanza, there's more than a sprinkling of great flicks to choose from. A few indie comedies, two very intense documentaries, and another solid adaptation of a classic novel. And, of course, we say goodbye to a franchise that has sparked excited squeals and irritated groans in equal measure. As always, let us know where you'll be headed below!
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2." Directed by Bill Condon. Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. Our review: "'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2' is as thrilling, scary and swooningly romantic as this series gets. But it's still dire." Metacritic: 53 Rotten Tomatoes: 55% The Playlist: C-
"Silver Linings Playbook." Directed by David O. Russell. Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. Our review: "The marketing presents it as a big broad comedy — and it certainly is — but it's also a unique and involving tale of two outsiders who together find a way to get on with life after it has dealt them some bad hands. And the silver lining is a film that is worth every satisfying minute you spend with it." MC: 84 RT: 88% PL: A
"Anna Karenina." Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Matthew Macfadyen. Our review: "We found it both fascinatingly theatrical and thrillingly cinematic, a picture that's lingered on our minds more than we expected, and while not quite an unreserved cause for celebration, it's a film that we cherish despite its flaws." MC: 64 RT: 62% PL: B+
"Hitler's Children." Directed by Chanoch Zeevi. This chilling documentary about the descendents of top Nazi Party members falters in its lack of direction. MC: 62 RT: 60%
"Price Check." Directed by Michael Walker. Starring Parker Posey, Eric Mabius, and Josh Pais. Our review: " 'Price Check' never successfully makes the shift into a higher-stakes scenario," and "stays mostly amiable and aimless, content to absorb the everyday cubicle life of such a mundane job." MC: 66 RT: 60% PL: B
"Funeral Kings." Directed by Kevin and Matthew McManus. Starring Alex Maizus, Dylan Hartigan, Jordan Puzzo, and Charles Kwame Odei. The film's portrayal of 14-year-old altar boys is both smart and funny, but may prove to be as adolescent as its subjects. MC: no score yet RT: 100%
"Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God." Directed by Alex Gibney. Our review: "It feels almost like there are two separate, equally important films here…We could wish the two halves were knitted a little more closely together but in the main, and with intelligence and compassion, ‘Mea Maxima Culpa’ thoroughly shatters the silence." MC: 72 RT: 94% PL: B+
"Generation P." Directed by Victor Ginzburg. Starring Vladimir Yepifantsev, Mikhail Yefremov, Andrei Fomin, and Sergei Shnurov. This study of advertising in Post-Soviet Russia is long and dense, but never tedious, offering a deeply informative perspective that is global and current in its application. MC: no score yet RT: 83%
"In Our Nature." Our review: "To watch a story where we simply understand these characters without seeing them truly evolve, or move towards an evolution, proves to be slightly disappointing, if perhaps more realistic to real life. In which case, 'In Our Nature' is as prophetic as it is provocative, exploring dysfunction, in a recognizable but no less satisfying way." MC: no score yet RT: no score yet PL: B
"Barrymore." Directed by Erik Canuel. Starring Christopher Plummer and John Plumpis. Plummer is delightful, portraying the Classical Hollywood actor with subtlety and pathos; the script is quite a bit less riveting. MC: 58 RT: 60%
