Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

More of the same, with perhaps a bit more charm—the personal kind, not the occult kind—as the story moves more into the realm of teenage angst and romance. The strength of the series lies in the inspired casting of the principal characters: the leads grow, figuratively and literally, throughout the films, and especially in the viewer’s heart. You really grow to care about these characters as the story progresses, and that is a credit to these then young actors; they may have seemed out of their depth in the first episode, but by this point they really came to inhabit their characters. You want them to win, and, if the story comes to a somewhat straightforward and perhaps unimaginative end—most of the imagination went into forming the world of the tale—that’s all right at the end of the day. Perhaps finding that you can care about fictional characters is the real magic. 

Cloud Atlas

What the hell was that? If you can coherently answer that question, I guess you’re more intelligent than me. I’m a long way away from figuring out the point of this exercise, and that ‘MEOW’ rating is perilously close to the damning HISS! And yet...I must say, though I didn’t understand it, I didn’t ever really want to stop watching it, either. There was enough weird interest woven within this mess to keep it, in at least some respects, compelling. Perhaps the generosity comes from a number of good actors making the best of what they had, or maybe it comes from a desire to recognize the risk-taking that this film represents; at least someone tried to do something different. But for most folks, the "story salad" will be too difficult to follow, as the interconnections (apart from the actors) are too opaque to strike any real sparks of recognition and synthesis. All in all, a noble failure.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

A faithful and honest rendition of the C. S. Lewis classic. Special props go to Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy Pevensie--she is adorable and delightful in the story's central role. Some of the Britishness might confuse American viewers, but it's actually a positive that they stuck to their guns and left that stuff in--more power to the filmmakers for remaining true to author and the story's origins. And no, the Christian stuff, as in the books, does not pound you over the head. Bottom line: if they want to make the whole series, I'm in.

Gangs Of New York

Best Picture? No. But it certainly isn't bad. The production is lavish and first rate. And Daniel Day-Lewis is simply extraordinary as Bill the Butcher; the movie is worth watching just for his performance alone.

Moulin Rouge!

It succeeds in spite itself. I wasn't sure what to make of it...and then Ewan McGregor began singing "Your Song," and I was hooked. He's great, and Nicole Kidman holds her own, but the real star is director Baz Luhrmann's staging and direction (particularly the art direction, with the "3D postcard" views of Paris). And it gets better upon repeated viewing, especially if you glean its literary predecessor (the myth of Orpheus, in particular). The end result is tremendously larger than the sum of all its odd individual parts. A "Best Of All" inductee.

Princess Caraboo

One of our last looks at Phoebe Cates before she slipped quietly into wifedom behind Kevin Kline (whom she met while making this film). A charming story about a strange girl who may or not be someone special--depending upon your definition of special. You'll like it.