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Argo That Ben Affleck can direct a film this smart and gripping is no longer a surprise, but still - his account of a rescue effort during the Iran hostage crisis is as precise as it is suspenseful. Affleck plays the CIA operative who aims to fly out six Americans posing as a film crew for a fake movie. Beware of Mr. Baker This unusual, well-made documentary follows drummer Ginger Baker, a man still as difficult as he was in the heyday of Cream and Blind Faith. At times, watching his misanthropic outbursts feels like being trapped with a dinner guest from hell, but it's hard to take your eyes off the train wreck. Broken City This tale of an ex-New York cop (Mark Wahlberg) trying to make sense of a crazy city filled with corrupt power brokers is mildly entertaining but ultimately is less than the sum of its parts. Bullet to the Head The latest from tough-guy director Walter Hill is a Stallone movie about a hit man who teams with a callow cop to uncover a nest of corruption in New Orleans. Django Unchained Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti Western, about an escaped slave (Jamie Foxx) who joins a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to rescue his wife from an evil plantation lord (Leonardo DiCaprio), is the most consistently entertaining film of 2012, full of dazzling dialogue, imaginative story turns and moments of high tension. Gangster Squad In post-World War II Los Angeles, a cop, newly back from the war, recruits a vigilante squad to pursue gangster Mickey Cohen's criminal empire. Violent and at times amusing, the movie never cuts deep or feels vital, though Sean Penn as Cohen is quite a spectacle. Witch Hunters Action fantasy in which the fairy tale characters become bounty hunters who track and kill witches. An Unexpected Journey One of the big disappointments of 2012, this first in a projected trilogy - all taken from one 300-page book - is a massive, overblown, under-plotted bore, despite the ideal casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Hyde Park on Hudson Authentic period detail can't elevate this small and rather sordid story, of an FDR cousin (Laura Linney) who has a peculiar sexual affair with the president in the days preceding World War II. While the movie loses steam in the last 45 minutes, strong performances by Naomi Watts and Tom Holland (as her son) keep it worth watching. In Another Country This exercise in drollery from South Korea's Hong Sang-soo stars Isabelle Huppert in three vignettes as three Frenchwomen - all named Anne - who visit a Korean seaside town and interact with the locals. Jack Reacher A pretty good action movie, elevated by the presence of Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike, about a drifter and a lawyer (respectively), who team to investigate what seems to be a random sniper shooting in Pittsburgh. The Last Stand Arnold Schwarzenegger is an old sheriff who, with a staff of four, has to fight off an army of insane, heavily armed drug dealers making their way to the Mexican border in this ridiculous, grotesquely violent, absurd waste of time. Lincoln An amazing film from Steven Spielberg featuring one of 2012's best performances, with Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, working every possible angle to pass the 13th Amendment in the waning days of the Civil War. Mama Jessica Chastain is superb as a black-haired rock chick who has to care for two newly adopted girls, not knowing that they have been adopted already by a deranged supernatural being known as Mama. Monsters, Inc. 3-D Pixar's 2001 animated comedy, about monsters who are fearful of human children, is rereleased in 3-D. Movie 43 Raunchy comedy consisting of multiple short segments about three youngsters searching online to find the world's most banned movie. Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts 2013 This year's animated-short nominees lack the consistency of last year's group. Parker Thriller about a career criminal seeking revenge on a gang that betrayed him. The Perks of Being a Wallflower In writer-director Stephen Chbosky's beautifully painful adaptation of his own novel, a suffering, introverted ninth-grader (Logan Lerman) falls in with a tribe of offbeat seniors. The film depicts the loneliness, anxiety and all-out quivering mess of adolescence in a manner not often seen since John Hughes' heyday. Quartet In his directorial debut, Dustin Hoffman guides four superb actors (Pauline Collins, Billy Connolly, Tom Courtenay and Maggie Smith) to fine performances in this story of old musicians in a British retirement home. Rust and Bone Marion Cotillard is remarkable in this thoroughly unconventional French love story about a killer whale trainer who loses her legs in an accident and the bouncer/street fighter who becomes her friend. The Sessions John Hawkes plays a polio victim who can't move his arms or legs but wants to experience sex for the first time, so he hires therapist Helen Hunt, in this well-acted, humane and sexually explicit drama. Skyfall A good-enough action movie, but a disappointing James Bond entry, with a sober, somber, downbeat Bond, trying to protect M (Judi Dench) from a maniacal terrorist (Javier Bardem). Sound City This documentary, the first directorial effort by the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, illuminates a small but intriguing corner of rock 'n' roll history by telling the story of Sound City, a recording studio in Van Nuys that attracted many top rockers during its run from 1969 to 2011. Stand Up Guys Al Pacino and Christopher Walken star as a couple of old hoods having a big night on the town in this well-written, extraordinarily well-cast and well-acted picture that blends drama and comedy. Pay attention to how even the small roles are detailed and defined - for example, Lucy Punch's as a brothel madam and Addison Timlin's as a waitress. Zero Dark Thirty Jessica Chastain gives what may be an Oscar-winning performance in this story, supposedly based on facts, about the CIA agent who devised a way to find Osama bin Laden. Reported by SFGate 12 hours ago.
Argo That Ben Affleck can direct a film this smart and gripping is no longer a surprise, but still - his account of a rescue effort during the Iran hostage crisis is as precise as it is suspenseful. Affleck plays the CIA operative who aims to fly out six Americans posing as a film crew for a fake movie. Beware of Mr. Baker This unusual, well-made documentary follows drummer Ginger Baker, a man still as difficult as he was in the heyday of Cream and Blind Faith. At times, watching his misanthropic outbursts feels like being trapped with a dinner guest from hell, but it's hard to take your eyes off the train wreck. Broken City This tale of an ex-New York cop (Mark Wahlberg) trying to make sense of a crazy city filled with corrupt power brokers is mildly entertaining but ultimately is less than the sum of its parts. Bullet to the Head The latest from tough-guy director Walter Hill is a Stallone movie about a hit man who teams with a callow cop to uncover a nest of corruption in New Orleans. Django Unchained Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti Western, about an escaped slave (Jamie Foxx) who joins a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to rescue his wife from an evil plantation lord (Leonardo DiCaprio), is the most consistently entertaining film of 2012, full of dazzling dialogue, imaginative story turns and moments of high tension. Gangster Squad In post-World War II Los Angeles, a cop, newly back from the war, recruits a vigilante squad to pursue gangster Mickey Cohen's criminal empire. Violent and at times amusing, the movie never cuts deep or feels vital, though Sean Penn as Cohen is quite a spectacle. Witch Hunters Action fantasy in which the fairy tale characters become bounty hunters who track and kill witches. An Unexpected Journey One of the big disappointments of 2012, this first in a projected trilogy - all taken from one 300-page book - is a massive, overblown, under-plotted bore, despite the ideal casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Hyde Park on Hudson Authentic period detail can't elevate this small and rather sordid story, of an FDR cousin (Laura Linney) who has a peculiar sexual affair with the president in the days preceding World War II. While the movie loses steam in the last 45 minutes, strong performances by Naomi Watts and Tom Holland (as her son) keep it worth watching. In Another Country This exercise in drollery from South Korea's Hong Sang-soo stars Isabelle Huppert in three vignettes as three Frenchwomen - all named Anne - who visit a Korean seaside town and interact with the locals. Jack Reacher A pretty good action movie, elevated by the presence of Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike, about a drifter and a lawyer (respectively), who team to investigate what seems to be a random sniper shooting in Pittsburgh. The Last Stand Arnold Schwarzenegger is an old sheriff who, with a staff of four, has to fight off an army of insane, heavily armed drug dealers making their way to the Mexican border in this ridiculous, grotesquely violent, absurd waste of time. Lincoln An amazing film from Steven Spielberg featuring one of 2012's best performances, with Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, working every possible angle to pass the 13th Amendment in the waning days of the Civil War. Mama Jessica Chastain is superb as a black-haired rock chick who has to care for two newly adopted girls, not knowing that they have been adopted already by a deranged supernatural being known as Mama. Monsters, Inc. 3-D Pixar's 2001 animated comedy, about monsters who are fearful of human children, is rereleased in 3-D. Movie 43 Raunchy comedy consisting of multiple short segments about three youngsters searching online to find the world's most banned movie. Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts 2013 This year's animated-short nominees lack the consistency of last year's group. Parker Thriller about a career criminal seeking revenge on a gang that betrayed him. The Perks of Being a Wallflower In writer-director Stephen Chbosky's beautifully painful adaptation of his own novel, a suffering, introverted ninth-grader (Logan Lerman) falls in with a tribe of offbeat seniors. The film depicts the loneliness, anxiety and all-out quivering mess of adolescence in a manner not often seen since John Hughes' heyday. Quartet In his directorial debut, Dustin Hoffman guides four superb actors (Pauline Collins, Billy Connolly, Tom Courtenay and Maggie Smith) to fine performances in this story of old musicians in a British retirement home. Rust and Bone Marion Cotillard is remarkable in this thoroughly unconventional French love story about a killer whale trainer who loses her legs in an accident and the bouncer/street fighter who becomes her friend. The Sessions John Hawkes plays a polio victim who can't move his arms or legs but wants to experience sex for the first time, so he hires therapist Helen Hunt, in this well-acted, humane and sexually explicit drama. Skyfall A good-enough action movie, but a disappointing James Bond entry, with a sober, somber, downbeat Bond, trying to protect M (Judi Dench) from a maniacal terrorist (Javier Bardem). Sound City This documentary, the first directorial effort by the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, illuminates a small but intriguing corner of rock 'n' roll history by telling the story of Sound City, a recording studio in Van Nuys that attracted many top rockers during its run from 1969 to 2011. Stand Up Guys Al Pacino and Christopher Walken star as a couple of old hoods having a big night on the town in this well-written, extraordinarily well-cast and well-acted picture that blends drama and comedy. Pay attention to how even the small roles are detailed and defined - for example, Lucy Punch's as a brothel madam and Addison Timlin's as a waitress. Zero Dark Thirty Jessica Chastain gives what may be an Oscar-winning performance in this story, supposedly based on facts, about the CIA agent who devised a way to find Osama bin Laden. Reported by SFGate 12 hours ago.