GHOST (2010)

With a lack of originality in film today, why a re-do of the 1990 mega-hit?  Because 2010's Ghost, a Japanese film in which a distraught, grieving man works to solve the murder of his wife using a spiritual medium to communicate with her ghost, has more than just a gender switch to make it worthwhile.  While viewers will recognize elements such as the pottery wheel scene, the "dark" ghosts who escort you below, and the lilting refrains of "Unchained Melody" (even "ditto"), much of the comedy from this Ghost has been left out in favor of the more dramatic - and romantic - storyline.  Here, we see how Nanami and Juno met, fell in love, and married; the romance, and just how much they loved each other before Nanami was struck down, is better developed.  While the ending slips a bit into melodrama, once the 'real villain' is revealed, this is a worthy retelling that may not replace the Swayze & Moore "recognizable star quality" of the original ... but is still quite the enduring love story. (not rated)  ****

GHOST trailer (Japanese)

WALK OF SHAME (2014)

Meghan Miles (Elizabeth Banks), an L.A. TV news reporter who always plays it safe and is nice to everyone (except cats; cats, for some reason, hate her beloved guts), finds herself up for her dream job at CNN - but when she loses both it and her live-in boyfriend on the same night, is talked into a night of partying with her two BFFs.  A lot of liquor later, Meghan goes home with the bartender (James Marsden), then through a bizarre set of circumstances finds out she's still in the running for the CNN gig after all ... but now is stranded in downtown Los Angeles, late at night, with no car, no money, no purse, and still wearing the tight, bright yellow dress she'd borrowed the night before.  With mere hours to get to the studio for her final interview, Meghan must do it on foot - eluding cops, gangbangers, drug dealers, a horny teenager, a posse of Orthodox Jews, and other Angelenos who think she's a washed-up hooker on drugs.  Banks is so hilarious and charming here, in a very funny comedy about a desperate good girl just trying to get her life back.  Loved it! (rated R)  ****1/2

WALK OF SHAME trailer

THE BODYGUARD (2004)

Thai comedian-turned-actor/director Petchai WongKomlao co-wrote, co-directed, and stars in this action-packed, very funny movie about a bodyguard named Wong Kom, assigned to protect the family of a wealthy businessman, who does his job incredibly well in the bullet-riddled action/chase scene that opens this film ... only to, in the end, lose it when the very man he's assigned to protect gets killed.  Humbled and shamed, Wong Kom seeks only to prove his merit by staying with the family - something the new widow wants, yet her only and obstinate son blames Wong Kom, firing him.  Soon after, a gang of incredibly inept thugs try to kidnap the son, who instead flees to a poor section of town, staying incognito with a family even as he falls for their tomboy daughter ... all while Wong Kom and the bad guys scour the city trying to find him.  A funny, uplifting film featuring one of the most unlikely yet likable leading men you'll ever hope to find (and Tony Jaa even has a cameo!). (not rated)  ****

THE BODYGUARD trailer

ENEMY (2013)

Been awhile since seeing an American film that made me THINK.  So welcome to Enemy, where college professor Adam's life is beyond sedate until, on the advice of a co-worker, he rents a movie to watch ... and spots, in the background on-screen, a man who is his exact double.  Confirming it online, Adam becomes obsessed with tracking down the actor, Anthony (both played by Jake Gyllenhaal), and eventually gets the guy's wife on the phone - who, when he does, thinks it's Anthony playing a joke on her because he even has the same voice.  When they finally meet, their two worlds colliding in David Lynch-ian ways, Anthony becomes as obsessed with Adam's world.  And then there are the spiders.  You may have to watch this one a couple times to even figure out the spiders.  Shot in muted yet saturating colors, the film builds up an increasingly uneasy suspense throughout, ending with a final two seconds that make 'WTF' an understatement.  Odd as hell, not for everyone, but really creepy and intriguing - and Gyllenhaal is terrific. (rated R)  ***1/2

ENEMY trailer

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)

It's a given that a Wed Anderson film is going to bowl you over visually (this one's no exception), but the story of legendary concierge Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), as recounted in present day by the hotel's current owner (F. Murray Abraham) to a traveling journalist (Jude Law), is just as outrageous, daring, funny, captivating, and beautifully rendered as the film itself.  Told through the eyes of Gustave and the new lobby boy (Tony Revolori, who virtually outshines all his A-list co-stars) he's taken under his wing at the hotel, their adventures involving a stolen painting and a sadistic wealthy family complete with murderous henchman (Willem Dafoe), make Indiana Jones' exploits look tame by comparison.  Set during the period of unrest that pervaded Europe between the world wars, and told with such love for the spirit of adventure of those times, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a fresh yet nostalgic, funny yet romanticized nod to the kind of films Hollywood simply doesn't make anymore. (rated R)  *****

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL trailer

AFTER (2012)

Quiet, shy young Ana (Karolina Wydra) and handsome comic book artist wannabe Freddy (Steven Strait) meet as sole occupants of a Greyhound-type bus driving through the late night.  The two get chatty after finding out they are both originally from the same small hometown, but minutes later the bus crashes ... and when Ana wakes up again she's in a hospital in her hometown - completely alone.  I mean, NO ONE else is in the hospital, on the streets ... anywhere.  Finally crossing paths with Freddy, who's also solo, the two try to find out what the hell is going on, even as they learn of a monstrous black cloud that's slowly swallowing up the town from all sides, sure to do them in if they can't figure things out first.  When a film's two leads are nearly the only characters in the film, it really hurts the movie when one of those actors - in this case, Wydra - is so unbelievable in the role, you can't buy into the film at all.  Really like Steven Strait, think he's often underrated, but this film is confusing, too dark (literally), without a plot, and without central characters you really give a hoot about.  Disappointing. (PG-13)  *

AFTER trailer

NOT SAFE FOR WORK (2014)

For only 74 minutes in length, this thriller packs quite a punch.  Max Minghella (the reason I watched the film) stars as Tom Miller, an ambitious paralegal for a huge law firm who often goes above and beyond his job duties to help - a trait that gets him fired over an innocent error.  Heading out of the office that afternoon, head low, Tom notices some odd activity in the lobby that leads him back up to the 34th floor ... where he soon finds himself and a couple of unwitting co-workers trapped on the empty floor with a coldblooded killer (JJ Feild, AWESOME here) who shoots first and doesn't bother to ask questions (well, not that many) later.  A small cast and limited sets (nearly everything takes place on the office set) only add to the tension of this well-paced, tautly-written thriller that deserves a much wider audience than it's likely to ever get.  The ending could have put more of an exclamation point to things, but that said this was a VERY pleasant surprise. (unrated)  ***1/2

NOT SAFE FOR WORK trailer

NON-STOP (2014)

Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a federal air marshall well past his prime, still dealing with an alcohol problem stemming from the death of his daughter years ago and now just going through the motions ... until boarding an international flight to London, where a series of texts forces Bill into a game with an unknown fellow passenger - one who will see to it that someone on the plane dies, every twenty minutes, until the airline transfer $150 million to an overseas bank account.  As the game plays on, a devoted Bill determined to keep everyone safe even as bodies start to fall, the marshall also learns that he's been set up as the terrorist himself, cutting Bill off from nearly all outside - even on-board - help, his only allies the lead flight attendant (Michelle Dockery) and the woman sitting next to him (the wonderful Julianne Moore) ... who may or not be what she seems.  Tense and suspenseful, Non-Stop is a nonsensical mental puzzle that - if you can suspend the necessary disbelief - is also an entertaining, enthralling film that solidifies Liam Neeson's growing rep as an awesome (if unlikely) action movie hero. (rated PG-13)  ****

NON-STOP trailer

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY (2011)

Another Happy Day - billed as both a comedy and drama (not sure "comedy" even loosely fits) on IMDB - is the story of volcanic, high-strung Lynn (Ellen Barkin), who travels to Annapolis with her husband and three younger children to attend the wedding of her oldest child, a son she's been both physically and emotionally distanced from since he was a kid.  There, she has to contend with her coldly impersonal mother (Ellen Burstyn), ailing father (George Kennedy), and bitchy sisters, all while keeping her drug-addicted son (Ezra Miller) and emotional wreck of a daughter (Kate Bosworth) from going under while also dealing with her ex (Thomas Haden Church) and his overbearing second wife (Demi Moore) ... the "family reunion" Lynn was hoping for unleashing more of the family's insanity instead.  Burstyn and Miller are especially great, but Barkin overplays, oozing melodrama, and you never really grow to care about these people, making the film even more of a downer.  Average. (rated R)  **1/2

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY trailer