Bill Cunningham New York

3 Paws
Seen recently at Film Streams

"On The Street" is my favorite feature in the Sunday Styles section of the New York Times. I love looking at the crazy combos the big city folk come up with, wishing I had the attitude necessary to leave the house dressed like that. As soon as I saw the trailer for this documentary, I couldn't wait to get a glimpse of the life of Bill Cunningham, the man behind the photos. Be careful what you wish for.

Although I have a soft spot in my heart for all eccentrics, I wasn't prepared for the concern I now felt for this elderly stranger I'd just gotten to know. Is he going to get hit by a speeding taxi while pedaling to his next assignment? Is he adjusting to life after being removed from his long-time residence in a Carnegie Hall studio with no kitchen or bathroom? Has fashion been enough?

I wish I owned one of his hats.

Bonus Bones: 2
Look for the black one on the street early on and the lounging one in the background of one of the interviewee settings. The lounger makes several appearances.

The Lincoln Lawyer

1 Paw

Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

I've never been a big Matthew McConaughey fan, and his performance as Mick Haller in this crime drama did nothing to change my opinion. My likes were limited to his car, his driver's outfit and William H. Macy's hair.

Everything else, including the film's title, is on the lame side. I guess if you're testifying in court in Los Angeles these days, it's okay to make impassioned speeches proclaiming your innocence instead of limiting your responses to the questions posed to you by counsel. McConaughey's tortured soul turn, complete with man crying, didn't ring the least bit true. He was much better as a defense attorney in the film version of John Grisham's "A Time to Kill." That being said, maybe it's director Brad Furman's fault, or maybe it's John Romano's Mattlock-like screenplay. In this one, there's plenty of blame to go around.

Bonus Bones: 2

Frank Levin (William H. Macy) had a dog, which was featured briefly in two scenes. It's just as well we weren't allowed to get too attached to him.

Win Win

3 Paws
Seen recently at the Dundee Theatre (still musty, still open)

I'm no celebrity stalker, but I do love the glitz and glam of Hollywood on occasion. You could find evidence of neither in Win Win, which is the secret of its success. You can't get any more ordinary than Mike (Paul Giamatti) and Jackie (Amy Ryan) Flaherty, who are just doing their thing, family style, in New Jersey until a whopper of an unethical decision on Mike's part brings a newcomer into the household.

The storyline, if you think too much about it, won't hold up after one watching. The performances - all across the board - do. It's a little too early to talk 2011 Oscar nominations, but 71-year-old Burt Young has set the bar pretty high as far as supporting actors go. Contrary to popular belief among those who finance films, you don't always have to blow things up or cast your lead from the pages of People's 50 Most Beautiful People list to get American butts in movie theatre seats. We'll show up for Burt.

Bonus Bones: 0
Nada, zip, zilch - not even a four-legged cameo.

Hanna

2 Paws

Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

I don't have kids, but if I did, I'd like a Hanna - minus all the killing. She's a younger, darker version of Jaime Sommers, one of my early television heroines. Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) is mysterious, magnetic and other worldly - it looks like someone plucked her straight from one of the Lord of the Rings film sets. Maybe it's her name, or maybe it's the country she comes from. Here's hoping she makes wise film choices going forward so her 15 minutes of fame last a while.

Oscar winner Cate Blanchett seemed to phone it in as the stereotypic government bad seed with a syrupy southern drawl. I did get a kick out of her ruthless attention to dental hygiene, though. The other star of the film was its score. I felt like I was watching a series of great music videos from back in the day when MTV actually showed music videos instead of bad reality television. (Remember a-ha's Take On Me?)

Bonus Bones: 5

The wolf pups were cute, the guard dog in one of the pivotal chase scenes represented, and viewers even got a brief history lesson (complete with visual) about Laika, the first dog in space.

Jane Eyre

3 Paws
Seen recently at Film Streams

I hate good movie trailers. All too often they get your hopes waaaaaaay up until you're finally seated in the darkness with your popcorn, where said hopes are then bashed all to hell before you're 15 minutes in. The trailer for Jane Erye - with all of its darkness and intrigue and clash of wills - seemed too good to be true. It wasn't.

If you're a fan of great filmmaking, make it a point to work this one into your schedule. Those Bronte sisters sure could put pen to paper, and director Cary Joji Fukunaga's take on one of the world's most popular books was gripping, spooky and just plain inspiring. I'll be on the lookout for more from Mia Wasikowska (Jane) and Michael Fassbender (Rochester), who - both separately and together on screen - were so compelling I was afraid to move for fear of missing something.

It has transfixed me quite.

Bonus Bones: 5
Not only was there a dog in this movie, but he had a name. Here's to Pilot, Rochester's friend and companion in times good, bad and more than a little bit cuckoo.

Source Code

2 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

Note to all writers, directors and producers currently involved in script negotiations: people love a good character. He or she doesn't have to be heroic good - evil also works (think Severus Snape or Martin Burney in "Sleeping with the Enemy") - just someone you care enough about to find out how things end up for them.

Jake Gyllenhaal's Colter Stevens is one of those characters. I loved him the minute he showed up on the train, dazed and confused and full of questions that didn't seem to have any answers. So is Christina Warren, Colter's modern-day Mary Tyler Moore-ish traveling companion who eventually becomes the object of his self-imposed "mission."

I can't say I loved the plot, a ghoulish remix of the "Groundhog Day" premise, a stomach-turning military experiment and any number of "we must stop the terrorist before he strikes again" flicks. Sandwiched in between all the billows of smoke, though, are some great moments, scenes filled with a simple humanity that made me downright weepy.

I never really did figure out what the source code was. I was too busy worrying about how far our real military would go in meeting a stated objective.

Bonus Bones: 0
I guess dogs aren't allowed on commuter trains in Chicago.