The Crazies

Pretty much what you would expect from a movie called, “The Crazies.” It’s more or less a zombie scenario. Timothy Olyphant plays the ubiquitous sheriff stoically but the movie suffers from poorly thought-out, “Scooby Doo” logic (i.e. “Hey gang! Let’s split up!”), presumably to insert suspense. There’s an interesting supporting performance from Joe Anderson, and some decent production value, but otherwise this is an average and forgettable remake.

Ghost Writer

A twisty thriller with old-fashioned sensibilities. No knife-wielding psychopaths or torture. It’s about books and writers and spies. It felt very 70’s. Ewan McGregor plays Roman Polanski’s surrogate superbly -- a man under siege by a presumed conspiracy. But that’s where the comparisons to Polanski’s crimes end. McGregor’s anonymous writer is innocent, and stumbles into a situation by accident that becomes more complicated the more he unravels it. Enjoyable and worth seeing.

The Tooth Fairy

Yes, I saw this. What of it?? Wanna fight about it?? Anyway, it’s a dud. I think Dwayne Johnson can be funny (i.e. Southland Tales), but he’s not Jim Carrey. He can’t make an unfunny script funny by sheer will. Even for a kid’s movie, the jokes were stale and the timing was off. Johnson’s character was uneven and inconsistent, and badly contrived redemption scenes have him redeeming himself for things that weren’t presented as problems in the first place. The supporting cast was out of synch, too. And The Rock standing there in a tutu isn’t foundation enough to build a feature length comedy.

Shutter Island

Expertly filmed and acted in every way. Everyone in the cast was great from DiCaprio to the gripping cameos from Jackie Earle Haley and Patrica Clarkson. Apparent allegiance to the source novel is honorable, but causes the movie to drag a little. Certain scenes, up to and including Ben Kingsley finally explaining the far-fetched plot to everybody, could have been shorter. But high-marks for everything -- the music, acting, and design all make for an extremely unalloyed, if slightly lugubrious thriller.

The Wolfman

Worth it for the scenes of great carnage. There were entrails everywhere! Attempts to rush through the first act are clunky. The bombastic Danny Elfman score is overused early on, and loses impact later. It should have started slow, like a regular corset drama, rather than the highlight-reel-style editing there is now. “Previously on Lost…” Del Toro was GREAT, but the supporting cast was unextraordinary. It’s no masterpiece, but like I said, there are a couple of fantastic scenes of wolfman pandemonium, beautifully and bloodily filmed by Joe Johnson and company, paying great tribute to the classic sub-genre.

Legion

Disappointing. It’s poorly directed, and the dramatic timing is way off. Scenes that should have been longer and more elaborate get cut short. Unnecessary scenes go on way too long. Dennis Quaid and most of the cast are off of their game. Paul Bettany is good, but he’s not enough. Too bad. It’s a ripe premise, but execution was half-assed.

Edge of Darkness

Mel Gibson, looking sad and leathery, pries, interrogates and punches his way through this -- a Death Wish meets Erin Brockovich melodrama. Gibson still commands attention as an actor and I admire the premise. Execution is by-the-numbers and detectivy with few surprises. But the acting’s strong and the pace is brisk, so I didn’t hate it. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a movie that I think I was just glad to see anything.