Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) – It’s a reasonably fresh but shallow film that does a good job with style if not with fleshing out its ideas; it isn’t particularly funny, though, unless perhaps you speak Finnish. 6

Paul

Paul (2011) – Easily the weakest of the Pegg/Frost collaborations, this one has trouble ever getting past vaguely amusing; it’s also got a clichéd, sappy ending, and many of the shots it takes at Christianity are painfully cheap. 5

Fearless

Fearless (1993) – The film isn’t quite as profound as it seems to think it is, but there are some very good performances here, and the crash scenes are done exceptionally well; given the story arc, Bridges’ character doesn’t feel properly handled, as he is by turns a magical savior and a man with real problems, with no real balance ever struck. 6

Ricochet

Ricochet (1991) – Lithgow does a good job as the villain and Denzel (who can’t seem to keep his clothes on here) is always watchable, but the plot has too much implausibility, silliness, and other dumb stuff of a more general nature going on to be taken seriously (you’re telling me that Denzel isn’t going to jail after this – that his reputation isn’t still in shambles?). 5

It Happened Here

It Happened Here (1965) – The movie is carried by the strong premise and the directors’ attention to setting and detail, although it spends quite a bit of time spinning its wheels hashing out the evils and insidious wiles of collaboration; it also gives a surprising amount of unopposed voice to anti-Jewish sentiment. 6

Strings

Strings (2004) – Excellent puppetry and striking visuals highlight this film, which is absorbing even though it has a predictable plot and pedestrian pacing (the lack of moving mouths and changing facial expressions hurts); also of note is the film’s unique world, in which the puppets acknowledge themselves to be puppets; this concept is extremely interesting, even if it breaks down under analysis (why don’t they climb their strings all the time?). 6