The Kids Are All Right(USA) Directed by Lisa Cholodenko Written by Lisa Choldolenko; Stuart Blumberg   Starring Julianne Moore; Annette Bening; Mark Ruffalo; Mia Wasikowska; Josh Hutcherson; Yaya DaCosta; Kunal Sharma; Eddie Hassell; Rebecca Lawrence

Lisa Chlodolenko has made a career focusing on triangulated relationships of various kinds. One of the few gay American women making widely released films, Cholodenko (who has also worked in television) has only produced three features since her critically acclaimed 1998 debut, High Art. Here, working from a script she co-wrote (with Stuart Blumberg), she tells the story of a lesbian couple Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening), their two children, Joni (Mia Wasilowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson), and the introduction of the kids biological father/sperm donor Paul (Mark Ruffalo) into their lives.

The story is pleasingly narrow in nature, which allows an audience the feeling of living with the characters, though there is some small degree of torpor owing in part to the number of scenes taking place inside Jule’s and Nic’s home. Still, Cholodenko and Blumberg infuse the script with richly drawn characters, fun but realistic dialogue, and a number of humorously awkward moments that help propel us forward. Said characters are also given a breadth of complicated and sometimes conflicting traits that helps deflect some of the stiltedness of the limited locations and obviousness of some of the plotting.

Moore, Ruffalo, and Wasilowska (In Treatment; Alice in Wonderland) are the standouts here, with Moore  giving the kind of relaxed, understated performance we don’t see often enough from her. With the facility to readily access a wide range of emotions, Moore is often fitted into roles that have her doing plenty of showy emoting, but here she plays an insecure woman who goes through a plethora of shaded feelings, while staying within reach of solid baseline.

Though the major plot twist is, debatably, a movie cliche, Cholodenko allows the characters their own individual arcs, making the set up more palatable. Ruffalo’s Peter Pan-like Paul stumbles upon this ready made family and becomes enchanted with the idea of being a part of their lives. Wasilowska is exceptional as a recently graduated high school senior butting up against her own perfectionism and prudishness, and both her character Joni, and half brother Laser, feel very much like real adolescents - intelligent, impressionable, reactive, frustrated, and indignant. Bening’s uptight Nic is a bit too reminiscent of her iconic role in American Beauty, though she is also effective and believable as a domineering Mom and doctor, filling the traditionally male role in the marriage.

Ruffalo too demonstrates the kind of laid back charm we saw in You Can Count on Me, reminding us why he is one of the more likable actors out there. The performance, and his character, are both deceptively simple. Restaurant owner/organic farmer Paul is a man with an affable, laid back facade, who has been unable to commit to anyone in his life. Though that fact is highlighted by his casual relationship with the beautiful, younger Tanya (Yaya DeCosta), it isn’t harped upon further, and, as is the case with most of these characters, his behavior is not explained by relating detailed past personal history.

Despite the obvious sexual politics at work here, for most of the film we are left to decide for ourselves what we think of these people and their lives. The denouement, however, takes a sharp (albeit perhaps inevitable) turn, and one is left with some level of confusion about the intent. It’s difficult to pinpoint whether the end is an indictment of certain individuals, an affirmation of gay people having successful long term relationships and families, or a commentary on the frailty and humanness of said family members, but there is a level of cruelty demonstrated that seems somewhat incongruent with the rest of the film, with only a subtle, though vitally important gesture included to offset it. In the end, regardless of the message being sent, it is nice to see the portrayal of characters who behave in real ways, with both the pettiness, jealously, and selfishness, but also the generosity, kindness, and loyalty that implies.

A Single Man  (USA)  Directed by Tom  Ford   Written by David Scearce; Tom Ford   Starring Colin Firth; Julianne Moore; Matthew Goode; Nicholas Hoult; Jon Kortajarena; Giniffer Goodwin     

From the 1962 novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, fashion mogul Tom  Ford makes a transition to film in this story of one day in the life of gay L..A. college professor, George (Colin Firth), a British native who has lost his longtime lover, Jim (Matthew Goode) to a fatal car crash. Ford, who co-writes, has obviously devoted himself to some cinematic study, and, with DP Eduard Grau and Production Designer Dan Bishop, uses his artistic experience to create a film with an evocative, if at times, overly  self-conscious, look. Using changes in palette to charter George’s inner emotional life and flashes of memory, and an overall pristine attention to detail, Ford paints a stylized early 60’s world. Including an element of a gun into the suicidal George’s life (something that wasn’t in the book) ups the dramatic ante, but the film is still ultimately about the mundane details of George’s daily existence as he struggles with the acute pain of losing the love of his life. The acting is superb, with Firth and Goode especially (Julianne Moore plays George’s alcoholic, long time friend, Charlie; and Nicholas Hoult, Kenny, a student who becomes interested in his teacher) keeping the film  grounded with subtly drawn characterizations. The prejudice and repression against gays is handled deftly, woven into the fabric of the narrative, the script refraining from soapbox moments of any sort. This restraint makes moments like when George is contacted by Jim’s family about his death and told he is not welcome at the funeral, and Charlie questining the legitimacy of their longstanding relationship, all the more powerful. The visuals are sumptuously delivered with homage clearly being paid (HItchcock/Wai/Haynes/Sirk?) along the way, though various overhead angles, iconic feeling framing, and a certain posing of impeccably dressed (by Ford himself) actors gives the impression we are, at times, observing a series of individual product ads/model shoots. Gay directors, or perhaps those of any sexual identity, face difficulties making gay relationship themed films that will be perceived as palatable to a wide audience, and here Ford hardly pushes the envelope with sex. Concentrating on the deep emotional ties between these two men, this first time director shows a surprising confidence with tone, trusting the talents of his impeccable cast to deliver the goods. While the visuals (as wonderful as they are in places) may be a little too controlled, a little too pretty, and even aseptic in places, Ford’s eye for light, costume, set design, framing, and color is obviously a well developed one, and it will be interesting to see if more films will further illuminate and differentiate his personal vision and style from the masters he has chosen to mirror.

Inception(USA) Directed by Christopher Nolan  Written by Christopher Nolan  Starring Leonardo Di Caprio; Ellen Page; Marion Cotilliard; David Gordon Leavitt; Tom Hardy; Michael Caine; Cillian Murphy: Tom Berenger; Ken Watanabe; Peter Postelwaite; Dileep Rao; Lukas Haas

It is probably not the best sign when a film spends a goodly portion of its run time explaining the cryptic plot through the mouths of its characters. Brit Christopher Nolan has taken a foundation built on lower budget indies (Following; Memento); a medium budget remake of a foreign film (Insomnia); a bigger budget period mystery (The Prestige); and two mega budget comic franchise entries, (Batman Begins; The Dark Knight), and created an intricately plotted psychological thriller/Sci-Fi actioner of monumentous proportion.

While enormous budgets are helpful, and perhaps even essential, in pulling off these modern day filmic  extravanzas, there is such a thing as too much, and as much as any film (possibly ever) Inceptionhas too much everything. There is no denying the brilliance of the set design (Guy Hendrix Dias), cinematography (regular Nolan collaborator, DP Wally Pfister), or the skills of a fairly awesome cast, but the film is elongated by at least an 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, and the repetitiveness of the dialogue and myriad action sequences make what should be nothing if not a thrill-a-minute visual hyper-fest lag in too many places.

Nolan is a filmmaker who goes full out, and his sincere commitment to the world he is painting is obvious. Down to the dramatic, overbearing Hans Zimmer score there is no room for irony in this house. The conceptualization of the logistics of what is laid out before us seems likely based on what is known about dreams, the imaginative paths drawn up as we navigate this sinuous roller coaster likely bolstered by a foundation of real, or at least plausible, science. Still, whether the mounting implausibilities that manage to amass on screen are the result of some intentionally less than fully explained real science, an inability by this particular viewer to comprehend all of the details, sloppily thought out and/or delivered plotting from those too deeply immersed in the project to see the light, or a case of a labyrinthian plot run amok (or some combination thereof) is tough to discern. It seems likely, however, that Nolan either wants to compel us to see his work multiple times in order to figure it out, or he’s hoping the events are so convoluted that we’ll all forget about trying and simply enjoy all the vividly compelling images without asking too many questions.

Inception seems like the kind of film that would benefit from a huge budget, and it does, to an extent. The scope is a wide one - principal photography on this 160 million dollar monster (with another 100 mill spent in marketing) took six months in Los Angeles, Calgary, Tangiers, and London. Some of the set pieces and super slow mo scenes are, no doubt, “cool”. But, as was the case with his overpraised Batman films, Nolan’s fascination with his own talent, and seemingly unlimited access to the best technology money can buy, leads to an excess of drawn out action scenes filled with an unyielding supply of inept bad guys who repeatedly prove unable to kill their targets regardless of how many wide open high powered rifle shots or close quarter grappling chances they are presented with.

No matter how enthralling the crisply shot visuals (in 35 and 65mm) might be, many of the full throttle  battles and car chases on display are still simply too long, and one particular interminable sequence on snow filled mountains feels more than a little derivative (perhaps the intent is homage?) of so many actioners of the past (think several Bond films, which Nolan is reportedly a fan of). There are undeniable moments of beauty here, especially when Nolan plays with time and camera speed (a van falling; glass shattering), and some of the CGI is excellent as well (cities changing form; buildings imploding), but though Arthur’s (Joseph Gordon Leavitt) no gravity hallway fight might be something to see, its power diminishes greatly as it continues to play out, intercut with other sequences, and stretched to the point of tedium. And despite the claims of innovation, Inception (unlike, say Avatar) doesn’t feel all that different from the The Matrix or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or some other big budgeters that were on the technological cutting edge upon release.

The bewildering plot, which involves individuals who enter other people’s dreams in order to steal business secrets (and eventually plant information), has been explored in various ways before (Dreamscape (1984);The Matrix (1999), existenZ (1999), etc.), though definitely not with this kind of intricacy. There are times when the cast seems as perplexed as some of the audience though, fighting to get the words of explanation out to narrate what is happening as they go. DiCaprio, as expert dream thief and fugitive Dominic “Dom” Cobb, certainly gives it his actorly all, and Marion Cotilliard as his deceased wife Mallorie “Mal” Cobb, is excellent in places, but for most of the film she is left as stranded as she was in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. Ellen Page too is fine as architectural student/dream designer Ariadne, though one can, in certain moments, imagine her thinking, “Am I really saying this stuff?” as she spits out some of the cliche-ridden dialogue.

Ultimately, one’s opinion of Inception comes down to an an expectation of what film is supposed to be. For those unabashed Avatar devotees desiring a theater experience involving a high speed jolt with intense,  mind bending visuals, who are less concerned with all the dots of the story connecting, this is the latest and greatest in filmmaking. For those in search of a logical tale about relatable human beings, you have come to the wrong place, my friend.

The White Ribbon(GE) Directed by Michael Haneke  Written by Michael Haneke Starring Christian Friedel; Leonie Benesch; UJlrich Tukur; Ursina Lardi; Fion Mutert; Burghart Klaussner; Steffi Kuhnert; Leonard Proxauf; Maria Victori Dragas; Michael Krantz

The brilliant auteur Michael Haneke has long been interested in visual media and its influence upon society. Earlier in his career his films were more acutely concerned with specific examinations of the relationship between how our behavior and interpersonal relationships are affected by what we watch, as well as the interactive dialogue taking place between the makers of video and their audience. Though there has been some transitioning into films related to violence and sex and the way that we as a society both judge and participate in unconventional and/or repellent behavior, the sixty eight year old Haneke’s entire oeuvre represents a kind of ongoing dialectic involving personal morality as juxtaposed with societal morays. Haneke has done much of his recent work in French, but with White Ribbonthe native Austrian returns closer to home, basing his metaphorical tale in a rural North German farming community pre-WWI. Shot in crisp black and white, the story has an an eerie underlying tone throughout. The plot chronicles a series of violent acts occurring in and around a village centered by an expansive estate. The staunchly conservative protestant area is entirely governed by a self-imposed religious rigidity (the title refers to a form of punishment meted out to misbehaved children), the severity of which naturally leads one to thoughts of what would happpen in Germany several decades later. While there is some mystery involving the school teacher (Christian Friedl ) - we hear him narrating as a much older man - who tries to get to the bottom of what is occurring, Haneke is uninterested in building tension as in a standard potboiler. Rather, he unveils small clues slowly, leaving out as much information as he chooses to include. The ultimate revelations are more about human behavior and the insidiously pervasive influence repression and fascist thought has on those being raised under its influence than about the solving of the specifics of the incidents. Though he hardly refrains from indicting those who pervert their authority in the name of promoting a personal/ political/religious ideological agenda (A Pastor; A Baron; A Doctor), Haneke simultaneously allows for some explanation as to the powerful influence of indoctrination upon all those involved regardless of the exact methodology of delivery. By showing us a panoramic view of so many of these people across microcosmic class lines he exposes an audience to variations on the group experience, providing a breadth that may have been impossible in a more narrowly focused character study. The concept of troubled young people capable of acts of cruelty is one the director has explored before, and here the kids have a Children of the Corn-like bearing that seems to border on horror genre territory at various points, though authorial restraint keeps the events in a realistic realm. Only a filmmaker at the height of his/her talents could so artfully weave this many story-lines, dually making a 2 1/2 hour grimly dark period piece pass smoothly if not exactly briskly in the process. While the perspective is certainly a dour one, the brief glimpses of humanity are enough to keep us from utter despair.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo(SWE) Directed by Niels Arden Oplev  Written by Nikolaj Arcel; Rasmus Heisterberg  Starring Michael Nykvist; Noomi Rapace; Sven-Bertil Taube; Peter Andersson; Lena Endre; Peter Haber; Marika Lagercrantz; Bjorn Granath; Ingvar Hirdwall

The late Stieg Larsson’s posthumous best selling three novel Millennium series has been turned into three separate films that will be released in succession (the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, is currently in American theaters). The Girl With the Dragon Tattoois based on the first novel, but borrows from the second as well, though unfortunately those scenes turn out to be the weakest part of the film due to their explicit revealing of the childhood history  motivating female lead Lisbeth Salander’s (a scintillating Noomi Rapace) behavior, removing some of the mystery that makes the rest of the story so good. Compelling while evolving methodically, the film has the feel of some excellent modern British mini-series like Traffik; State of Play (which also involved the press) and Wire in the Blood and it is completely unsurprising to discover that this 2 1/2 hour film was  originally shot for television, as were the two sequels that follow it. Set in Sweden (mostly in the fictional town of Hedestad), the plot focuses on two main characters - the aforementioned Lisbeth, a pierced/ tattooed/twenty-something/chain-smoking/ninety pound/bisexual computer hacker/ investigator with cropped, ink-blank hair; and, divorced, late forty-something investigative reporter, Mikael Blomqvist (Michael Nykvist), who is convicted of libeling a powerful and wealthy CEO and sentenced to three months in prison. Awaiting incarceration, he quits his newspaper gig, and takes a strange gig offered by another (semi-retired) captain of industry, octogenarian Henrik Vagner, who charges him with digging up information about his teenage niece, Harriet, who disappeared in the mid-sixties. We originally meet Lisbeth as she follows Blomqvist on assignment, but when his case closes she remains fascinated by him and what she is convinced is his wrongful conviction. Blomqvist moves from Stockholm to the rural Vagner estate, learns about the powerful family’s Nazi past, and begins delving deeper into events surrounding Harriet’s disappearance. Lisbeth meanwhile, breaks into Blomqvist’s lap top to track his comings and goings, and stumbles upon the Harriet case, immediately becoming intrigued herself. Lisbeth and Blomqvist form an odd team; their understated relationship has an offbeat chemistry that, while far from dynamic, is interesting and complex. Lisbeth is a woman who has suffered abuse in her past, and her violation at the hands of a sadistic court appointed guardian is graphically detailed. She is no passive victim, however, and uses the rage inside her to fight back - with the case presenting itself as a potential path toward some catharsis for her damaged soul. A well put together policier with one outstanding performance from Rapace, who calls to mind Anne Parillaud’s title role in Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita.

Brooklyn’s Finest(2009) Directed by Antoine Fuqua   Written by Michael Martin  Starring Don Cheadle; Richard Gere; Wesley Snipes; Ethan Hawke; Will Patton; Lili Taylor; Brian O’Byrne; Vincent Donofrio; Ellen Barkin; Michael K. Williams; Hassan Johnson; Isaiah Whitlock; Shannon Kane

Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day benefited from some excellent characterizations (including one brilliant turn from Denzel Washington), spot on dialogue; and an attention to detail that led to a street authenticity rarely achieved in cinema.  Some of those same elements can be found in Fuqua’s latest, Brooklyn’s Finest, and like Training Day the film unfortunately devolves into a morass of over the top violence and multiple murders. Unlike the latter, which did well sticking to two leads and essentially one tightly wound storyline, Brooklyn’s Finestattempts to cover a week or so in the lives of three separate New York City cops working the confines of Brownsville Brooklyn’s 65th Precinct. The script is from ex Transportation worker and NYC native Michael Martin, who wrote it while recovering from injuries suffered in a car crash. Though the characters look and sound like the real deal, Martin and Fuqua unfortunately employ every cop movie cliche known to man. We get the bitter, divorced, ineffectual detective, Eddie (Richard Gere), a shell of a man who is a mere seven days from retirement; a financially overextended narcotics cop, Sal (Ethan Hawke), with a big family (the kids simply keep appearing) and pregant wife (Lilli Taylor), who needs to raise funds to move out of a mold infested rat trap and into a new home; and, finally, Tango (Don Cheadle), who has been working deep cover so long that his wife has divorced him as he faces the prospect of turning on his old friend Caz (Wesley Snipes) in order to obtain his long sought after detective shield. Fuqua is clearly after a kind of operatic style, mirroring a film like Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River, but like recent similarly constructed New York “coperas” that owe a tip of the hat to the Sydney Lumet dramas of the 1970’s, James Gray’s We Own the Night(2007) and Gavin O’Connor’s Pride and Glory (2008),this one winds up allowing an overly twisted plot to overwhelm the solid visuals, strong acting, and excellent sense of place. Fuqua is after pounding home the tone and look, imbuing the film with an overbearing score (a mix of hip hop; soul; and original music by composer Marcos Zavos), and multiple scenes with characters bathed in darkness, illuminated only by shards of light catching glimpses of their faces. And despite the authentic street feel in many of the scenes, there are numerous head scratching missteps of various kinds, not limited to the Sal role being filled by Ethan Hawke, an excellent actor who looks not one iota like an Italian American; the wasting of indie fave Lili Taylor; the presence of middle-aged Ellen Barkin as a ridiculously “tough” agent; the unfortunate naming of the characters Tango and Caz (Tango and Cash?); a character named Ricky Rosario being played by real life Irishman Brian O’Byrne; Tango continually meeting his police connection, Bill (Will Patton), at a public diner; and the statement of several erroneous facts, most notably the starting salary on the NYPD being $20,000 (currently $44,000 without overtime, etc.). Fans of the brilliant HBO series The Wirewill notice the casting of no less than three actors from the show, including Michael K Williams and Hassan Johnson, there to aid the street cred, and surprise of all surprises Wesley Snipes actually does well in his role as an ex-con project kingpin. At several points throughout the film, and again toward the end there is an attempt to have the three lead characters cross paths, though these encounters lack any kind of resonance,  which can also be said for the violent individual denouments each will ultimately face. A film that takes itself as seriously as this one does simply has to deliver more.

It’s Complicated(USA) Directed by Nancy Myers  Written by Nancy Myers  Starring Meryl Streep; Alec Baldwin; Steve Martin; John Krasinksi; Lake Bell; Mary Kay Place; Rita Wilson

Meryl Streep is one of our country’s finest actors, and her iconic performances in classics like Kramer Vs. Kramer; The Deer Hunter; and Sophie’s Choice remain in our collective memory, but with a treacly, insipid, and unimaginitve film like It’s Complicatedno one (not even an estimable veteran actress with multiple Academy Awards to her credit) comes out looking very good. Writer/director Nancy Meyers is a woman who makes highly commercial films, largely centered on female characters who’ve aged as she has, which makes her standout some in a highly male dominated industry. Her work, however (with a few notable exceptions),  has always been of somewhat questionable cinematic quality. With Hollywood churning out action and effects-laden event movies based on comic books and video games, the ones that are constructed with characters resembling actual human beings (or some semblance of them, anyway) are often thrillers and rom coms with paint by numbers, signposted plotting, anemic character development, and predictable dialogue. Here, Meyers gives us nothing more than another typical inane rom com, with the only variable (and not much of one at that) being that the focus is on two aging exes (Jake and June Adler) who rediscover one another when brought together for major events in their children’s lives. Streep spends the film filling in the gaps with bouts of false sounding giggling, and Baldwin is simply awful in every respect. Both actors demonstrate their understanding that this is something far from real life by indicating throughout, clearly playing this for yucks, which comes off even stranger still because there are none. Though supposedly educated, wealthy professionals, their respective characters are foolish people, and neither are the slightest bit likable as individuals (and especially as a couple). Unfortunately, the main supporting players Steve Martin, John Krasinksi, and Lake Bell (who in fairness are given a lot less to do) aren’t a lick better in their underwritten, underdeveloped, and unfunny roles (P.S. does anyone, for a second, buy these people as an actual family?). Many of the scenes are so poorly acted and written that the watching is excruciating, both due to the fact that the overall story is entirely uninvolving, unappealing, and trite, and also because one is constantly aware that this is theMeryl Streep we’re watching, and it is acutely painful to observe an actor of her stature involved in this dismal, banal garbage. Though the intended audience is clearly baby boomers in and around retirement age, bad is bad, and fluff is fluff, no matter what the ages of the main characters. There was a time when Baldwin did quality dramatic work (see Miami Blues; Hunt for Red October; Glengarry Glenross), but though he is effective in the successful comedic series 30 Rock, it’s been ages since he gave an impressive, substantial performance in a well rendered drama. Decent supporting appearances in films like The Cooler; The Good Shepherd; and State and Main have been the highlights of his last twenty years of film work. Still, despite the spotty career path he hasn’t, to this viewer’s memory, previously demonstrated this level of ineptitude. Yes, the material is embarrassingly awful, but the performance is lazy and solipsistic, and has nothing to do with the art of embodying a living and breathing human being in any real way. Streep, who is nine years older than Baldwin, has obviously fared better professionally, especially in the past decade, though even her presence fails to contribute to delivering a single authentic scene in this entire smarmy, horribly modulated debacle.

Party Down(Starz)

Party Downrecently finished its second season on cable channel Starz. Despite being the best little known show on the airwaves, it will not be returning for a third.

 Like so many other top quality televised comedy series of the past decade (Arrested Development; Undeclared; Freaks and Geeks, et al), Party Down didn’t get enough viewers/wasn’t well promoted or given enough time to find its way, and will simply fade away to a life on DVD. There was some indication the show wouldn’t be coming back as some of the leads began taking jobs on other shows (i.e. Adam Scott on Parks and Recreation), but one hoped that the channel might’ve recognized what they had and found creative promotional ideas to push what was one of the best shows out there.

The last episode of Season Two (entitled Constance Carmel’s Wedding) wasn’t a conclusive one as obviously there wasn’t enough cancellation warning. The show brought back ex-Party Down staffer Jane Lynch (Glee) as Constance, the bride celebrating her new age wedding to Howard Greengold (Alex Rocco), a loud, obnoxious oldster with an air tank and multiple marriages under his belt, whose daughter Mona (Jennifer Irwin) wants to stop the wedding to prevent, as she puts it, that ”cunt (from) spending our fortune on scented candles”

Like all of the events catered by the pink bow-tied ones the wedding winds up being something of a disaster. Casey (Lizzy Caplan) finds out that her scene in the Apatow movie has been cut. When Henry (Scott) tries to console her, she accuses him of not being able to understand because he doesn’t care about anything. Later, the vacuous Ryan (Kyle Bradway) is having trouble understanding a script he is reading for an audition, and (perhaps in part to prove something to Casey) Henry gets inspired by the project. Roman (Martin Starr) samples some wedding treats that turn out to be marijuana infused and gets hilariously super high. Supervisor Ron (Ken Marino) is looking at a promotion from owner Bolus Lugozshe (Michael Hitchcock), but finds his love for the boss’s daughter, the engaged Danielle (June Diane Raphael), too overwhelming to contain. Lydia (Megan Mulally) meanwhile, sees an opening with the divorced Bolus, and attempts to apply her charms.

The hijinks and basic formula were pretty much the same episode to episode, and yet writers/producers/ creators, ex-Veronica Marspartners, John Enbom and Dan Etheridge (Rob Thomas and Paul Rudd also co-created) managed to infuse the well-paced show with so much intelligent, cutting edge, pop-culture infused humor that it seemed to matter little. Recurring roles, guest stars, and cameos from the likes of Kristen Bell; JK Simmons; Ed Begley Jr., Rick Fox, Andres Royo; Joey Lauren Adams; George Takei; Ken Jeong; Thomas Lennon; Christopher Mintz-Plasse; and Steve Guttenberg added to the talents of a wonderfully strong cast. Unfortunately (though at this point, not surprisingly) another good one bites the dust, leaving the television landscape that much more barren in its wake.

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe (USA)Directed by Sarah Kunstler; Emily Kunstler

Access is often king when it comes to documentary, and who better to obtain entry to a subject than those individuals closest to said subject. At the same time, those who choose to take on the task of documenting real life people and events have a certain inherent responsibility, regardless of agenda, to try to tell the truth, a task made exponentially more arduous when said filmmaker has a close personal investment in their relationship with his or her subject or their legacy. The good news here is Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler (who narrates), daughters of controversial defense attorney and social and political activist William, do a laudable job of asking some pertinent and difficult questions about many of the professional decisions made by their father. Were they as circumspect when it came to detailing and analyzing his personal life, this portrait might have felt a bit more rounded, though there is some brief coverage of the time before he became famous, which included a privileged upbringing, a stint in the army during WWII, a small private law practice, a first wife and two daughters, and a placid suburban New York existence. Kunstler served as director of the ACLU during the sixties, and is perhaps best known for his role in the 1969/70 Chicago Eight (later Seven) trial, where the sight of Black Panther Bobby Seale being bound and gagged in the courtroom would affect him to such an extent that he found himself forever changed. Through photographs, news footage, and taped interviews with Kunstler and many of those who knew him best, his career is recounted from his early activism for civil rights and peace, and his involvement with famous historical events like The Attica prison riot, the siege at Wounded Knee, and the Central Park wilding case. Emily talks about growing up in a household with a famous father who was a constant target for threats, and how the fear she and her sister felt as children affected them. At one point, the FBI purchased an apartment across the street from their childhood household to monitor their father’s  comings and goings. Later in his career, Kunstler began taking on a series of cases that confused even his most loyal and ardent supporters, defending mafia figures and a series of terrorist bombers. Regardless of what one thinks about Kunstler’s politics, however, his dedication to his ideals, which included the staunch commitment to the concept that even the most heinous of accused criminals deserve an adequate defense, must be admired. For many years, he was at the forefront of defending the disenfranchised, risking his own personal safety and reputation in mainstream society to put his money where his mouth was. Despite the many people who were critical of his love for publicity, and refusal to bow to public pressure when it came to unpopular clients, his funeral in 1995 was attended by thousands, many of whom benefitted in ways great and small from his fearless dedication to the principles he held sacred.

Youth in Revolt(USA) Directed by Miguel Arteta  Written by Gustin Nash  Starring Michael Cera; Portia Doubleday; Jean Smart; Steve Buscemi; Zach Galifinakas; Ray Liotta; Eric Knudsen; Adhir Kaylan; Justin Long; Mary Kay place; M. Emmett Walsh; Fred Willard

Based on the six book series by C.D. Payne, Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp, Miguel Arteta (Star Maps; Chuck and Buck; The Good Girl) directs from a script by Gustin Nash (Charlie Bartlett). Twenty two year old Michael Cera plays the sixteen year old (he was turning fourteen in the book) titular character, as well as his mustachioed alter ego Francois Dillinger. Though the source material obviously preceded Rushmore (1998), Youth in Revolt’sfilmic life nonetheless owes a debt of gratitude to Wes Anderson’s seminal tale of prep school dropout Max Fischer. Derivation, or at least homage, is to be expected whenever innovated work is presented, and so it’s no surprise that a number of similar films have followed in its wake, including the aforementioned Bartlett. The story focuses on Nick (Cera doing Cera), who is also the narrator - a high school student/aspiring writer/virgin, who longs to reach beyond the limits of his hometown, Oakland, CA, to fall in love and have a sexual relationship with the girl of his dreams, to escape his oversexed Mom, Estelle (Jean Smart) and her moronic truck driver boyfriend Jerry (Zack Galifinakis), and perhaps connect with his unemployed father, George (Steve Buscemi). When Jerry cheats three sailors on a car deal, Nick, his Mom, and Jerry hide out at a Ukiah, CA trailer park, where Nick meets precocious Francophile Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday), the daughter of a pair of religious fundamentalists (Mary Kay Place and M. Emmett Walsh), with whom he instantly falls in love. Though he is soon forced to return with Jerry and his Mom, Nick decides to do everything in his power to get thrown out of his home, get his father a job near Ukiah, and move there to be near his new love. This plan brings about the development of his alter-ego (an embodiment of what he believes Sheeni wants), and sets in motion a series of outrageous developments that will eventually land Nick in all kinds of hot water. The film is often funny, and though consciously “quirky,” it is still a cut above most youth comedies. Nothing ground-breaking or overly innovative here, and there is a feeling we have seen much of this before, but Cera and a stellar cast help turn this otherwise well-written diversion into a satisfying watch   nonetheless.