Le Chef, A Most Wanted Man, Magic in the Moonlight

Le Chef




A Most Wanted Man

Magic in the Moonlight








From the sublime to the ridiculous…

Happy Christmas

Joe Swanberg's "Happy Christmas" packs more truth into less runtime than any movie since "Don Jon."

Closed Curtain, Lucy

Closed Curtain

Lucy

In 2012, Jafar Panahi, the celebrated Iranian director banned from filmmaking by his government, gave us a peek at life under house arrest in the cinematic art-object "This is Not a Film," one of a trio of films that year (including Joshua Marston's superior "The Forgiveness of Blood" and Marc Simon's four-star documentary "Unraveled") to explore the subject.

I Origins, Wish I Was Here, Sex Tape, Mood Indigo, Planes: Fire & Rescue

I Origins

Wish I Was Here



Sex Tape

Mood Indigo



Planes: Fire & Rescue (my rating)

Planes: Fire & Rescue (Big Scruffy's and Little Scruffy's rating)

Reviews on five of the week's new movies:

Siddharth, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Siddharth

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes





In "Siddharth," director Richie Mehta uses one family's crisis to paint a vivid portrait of contemporary India.

Land Ho!, Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger, The Battered Bastards of Baseball

Land Ho!

Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger

The Battered Bastards of Baseball

Aren't we past the point when a movie can score laughs just by putting bad words in an old man's mouth?

Boyhood

I'd been looking forward to "Boyhood" as much as any movie set for theatrical release this year.

Life Itself, Gabrielle, The Pleasures of Being / Out of Step, Violette, Beyond the Edge, Venus in Fur

Life Itself

Gabrielle



The Pleasures of Being / Out of Step

Violette



Beyond the Edge

Venus in Fur





I'm way behind on last week's movies, so these will have to be very short capsules:

Tammy

I apologize in advance to anybody named Tammy, but…

Snowpiercer, The Internet's Own Boy

Snowpiercer

The Internet's Own Boy

At this moment in time, Korea is the pits of the earth when it comes to cinema.

The Best (and Worst) Films of the First Half of 2014

At the halfway mark of a relatively poor year in movies, let's pause to review the highlights in feature and documentary film, starting with the cream of the crop: