A well-written, interesting and fun indie film with a hilarious cast. Lake Bell's performance is amazing, and she also wrote and directed the film. The story focuses on a hidden side of the movie business, the voice-over industry, a topic I happen to find fascinating. All of the characters, and there are a few, are well fleshed out and performed brilliantly by the cast. I appreciate how everything feels so believable, or at least effortless, even though this is such a quirky and funny movie all the way through. I left the theater with a big smile on my face.

4 Stars (out of 5)

Gravity is a fun nerdy thriller. It's one of the best examples of zero-g in a film since Apollo 13 and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The floating camera style has become a staple of Alfonso Cuarón's work. The now infamous continuous shot in the car in Children of Men has changed filmmaking forever, and in Gravity nearly every sequence is in this free-floating style, something Hitchcock could only dream of when making Rope. The 3D is impressive, but in many ways the sound mix is even more immersive than the visuals. Regardless of how ridicules the plot of this film may seem, space junk is a very real problem*, with garbage piling up up there. I found it sweet that at its core the film is about letting go.

4 Stars (out of 5)

*Of the 17,000 objects orbiting Earth currently being tracked by scientists, only 7% are functioning satellites.

Rush is the Apollo 13 of racing movies. The race scenes are exquisitely presented in a way that feels genuine even though you know what you're watching is mostly special effects (much like Apollo 13). Close-ups of quiet grass, flowers, or leaves that erupt into activity as the cars pass stood out to me as beautiful real moments, (similar to the shots of birds flying away in Pacific Rim earlier this summer). Ron Howard does a good job of making a true story into a big Hollywood movie, and with heart.

3.5 Stars (out of 5)

I hope Woody Allen never stops making movies. Even though I know who all of these actors are the characters they're playing are so well fleshed out that I actually believe what I'm watching is real. Cate Blanchett will win an Oscar for this, but I would like to see Woody Allen get (*another) Best Original Screenplay, because it's his words they're saying. If we now live in a world where Andrew Dice Clay might be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Woody clearly deserves an award for somehow making that possible.

3.5 Stars (out of 5)

*Woody Allen has won three Best Screenplay Oscars already: Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Midnight in Paris.

Maybe it'll be better on a second viewing, but I wasn't as impressed with this one as much their earlier two films. The story felt like a first draft, especially the third act. Shaun of the Dead is a magical film, Hot Fuzz is funny, and this film is... just there. Even though I didn't like The World's End overall, I did laugh my ass off at how completely absurd the ending became. The other end-of-the-world comedy that came out this summer, This is the End, was a lot funnier.

2.5 Stars (out of 5)

I think the fact that this film is so strange makes up for the fact that it sucks so bad. The casting of Matt Damon hurt the film the most for me. The last thing I want to see was Jason Bourne in space. I'll admit that I enjoyed the visuals greatly, especially the video-game like tracking shots, something I've never seen before. The over-simplistic story, bad casting, and Jodi Foster's strange accent made this an oddly entertaining terrible movie. Let's hope Blomkamp's next film goes back to using unknown actors and more realistic premises... like aliens living in Johannesburg.

3 Stars (out of 5)

I was hoping for a little more meat to this documentary. This film is more of an indictment of Sea World's upper management than it is a message against keeping intelligent mammals locked in small cages, but you wouldn't know it from all the reviews and hoopla surrounding the film. Regardless of its apparent impact on audiences, I thought it moved slowly and didn't offer very much information, which is a damn shame.

2.5 Stars (out of 5)

This movie isn't very good, but Aubrey Plaza is good in it, so I ended up enjoying it. I do like that it's set in the nineties. And for a summertime coming of age romance/comedy it hits enough of the marks to be charming. It is raunchy though. This is the female equivalent of American Pie only instead of trying to lose their virginity after prom, she's trying to do every sexual thing there is to do before starting college. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to pretend all these 30-year old people are teenagers in high school, so the film feels like an SNL skit half of the time. It's charming, in a gross silly kind of way.

3 Stars (out of 5)