To Rome with Love (2012)

Well, this is certainly no Midnight in Paris... but nor is it the last ensemble-esque movie Woody Allen did, the messy and confusing You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. While the individual stories don't form much of a cohesive whole, each story is charming in its own way, and as he has done for New York, London, Barcelona, and Paris, Allen does a great job of making me want to visit the city he's focusing on. For me, even his less brilliant efforts are worth watching, and this is definitely one of those. 3.5 stars.

Best Part: As silly as it was, I loved the story about the man who can only sing in the shower. I laughed like crazy during his first performance.
Worst Part: Much as I loved the fantastical element to Roberto Benigni's plotline, it never felt complete.
Flickchart: #692, below The Secret of Santa Vittoria and above 21 Jump Street.

Candy (2006)

Some excellent acting, a good script, and overall a very effective story... however, all that being said, I'm not sure it actually did anything to set itself apart from other very good addiction dramas. The Basketball Diaries comes to mind, a movie that I know I was impressed with at the time, but have very few strong memories of today. This is solid, but it is unremarkable, and the story is such a common one that, as well as it is told here, I am sure I will not have any strong memories of a year from now. 3.5 stars.

Best Part: The scene with the miscarriage was heartbreaking.
Worst Part: I don't know, there wasn't anything *wrong* with it. I'm just not sure I'll remember it.
Flickchart: #727, below Brick and above Downfall.

Melancholia (2011)

This movie is painful, gloomy, and dark... and yet, like the other Lars Von Trier movie I've seen (Breaking the Waves), it is somehow also a beautiful film. The movie manages to capture the experience of depression and internal suffering in a way I have rarely, if ever, seen on film. Although my experience with depression has been very mild compared to some of my good friends, I still identified very strongly with Kirsten Dunst's character and found myself almost unable to breathe in a few of the scenes involving her extreme... well, melancholia.

Aside from the part of the movie that deals with depression, however, I was blown away by von Trier's portrayal of the end of the world. I'm fascinated with apocalyptic stories, but so many movies bring in the element of adventure and escape. I've had a lot of dreams about the end of the world, and they always work like this... occasional desperate attempts to escape, but the underlying knowledge that, no, nothing is going to change this, and we might as well just sit and wait for the end to come. It is a dark, heartbreaking story... but I loved it. Obviously I need to check out more of von Trier's work, as both this and Breaking the Waves fascinated and haunted me. 4.5 stars.

Best Part: The opening. I very literally could not look away. I kept meaning to go get something to drink, and I couldn't stop watching.
Worst Part: The first half of the movie does go on longer than it probably needs to. I got a bit antsy.
Flickchart: #363, below What's Eating Gilbert Grape and above An Education.

The Pirates of Penzance (1983)

There is nothing quite as satisfying for me as a good musical, and for some reason I always forget how much fun Gilbert & Sullivan are until I actually watch one of their shows. This is an excellent production of one of their greatest hits, with creative direction and choreography to match the outlandishness of the lyrics and music. Also, Kevin Kline completely deserved his Tony for this role - he is so much fun to watch. 4 stars.

Best Part: I had to look up the name of the number on Wikipedia, but "With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal" was my favorite. Catchy, energetic, and vastly entertaining.
Worst Part: There is that interminably long duet between Frederic and Mabel in act two...
Flickchart: #346, below Hoodwinked! and above The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

Frankenweenie (2012)

(Spoilers in the best part/worst part section.)

While this movie was high on originality and entertainment value, it was low on heart, which was disappointing, although it shouldn't have been unexpected - Burton's recent efforts have been much the same. This time, though, it should have been different - it's a story about a boy and a dog, and that should have done a much better job of pulling at the heartstrings, even for a cold-hearted animal apathist like myself. Or it could have gone the other way and gone even darker with the story to indicate it was in no way meant to be taken sentimentally. As it was, it was a fun little movie with some very funny moments but lost out on its chance to take it to the next level emotionally. 2.5 stars.

Best Part: When Mr. Whiskers turned into a vampire cat.
Worst Part: There were a LOT of plots just kind of left hanging. Is that German kid still in that sarcophagus?
Flickchart: #822, below Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and above An Affair to Remember.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

This was a good movie, but man, did it mess me up. I admire everything about the movie - the acting is excellent, the writing is clever, the story tackles some heavy subjects with tact and realism. And yet, as I watched the movie, I got more and more depressed, and the triumphant ending did nothing to change that. It's extremely difficult to even know how to write a review of this, because while I'm pretty sure it wasn't *supposed* to depress me, it did, and it's hard for me to separate that from the actual movie. So I'm giving it a medium star rating because I don't quite know what to do with it. 2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #985, below The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio and above Legally Blonde.

Looper (2012)

A smart, entertaining thriller that is probably best to watch without knowing anything about it. It's a sci-fi story set slightly in the future, but I appreciate that it doesn't get into sci-fi technobabble, but instead just tells an interesting story with an extremely satisfying ending. It's been awhile since I've seen a movie in this genre that I liked as much as this one. 4 stars.

Flickchart: #479, below Christmas in Connecticut and above Beautiful Boy.