THE THREE STOOGES  (2012)  ***1/2 out of 4  The Three Stooges return to the big screen with this contemporary take on the zany trio from Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. Beginning with their childhood in an orphanage in the 1950s, the film takes Larry, Moe and Curly through their adult years. Three interconnected segments written and directed by the Farrelly brothers contain all-new material but remain true to the classic tone set by the beloved slapstick icons.

My Review: A very pleasant surprise, I'm glad I caught this before it disappeared from theatres.  The best Farrelly brothers film since 2003's criminally underrated Stuck on You, their Three Stooges film is cleverly structured as three back-to-back "episodes" with a classically satisfying story arc (the Stooges need $830,000 to save their orphanage!  Can they do it?)  The film's chief asset is the uniformly awesome performances by Chris Diamontopoulos (Moe), Will Sasso (Curly), and an unrecognizable Sean Hayes as Larry, but they are aided by the Farrellys' unique blend of silly humor and sweet-natured, non-cloying sentiment.  Worth checking out if you can still catch it, or certainly on DVD.

THE RAVEN  (2012)  ** out of 4  After discovering that a string of baffling murders seems to be inspired by the macabre short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, Baltimore cop Emmett Fields turns to the brilliant-but-boozy author to help solve the crimes.

My Review: John Cusack's spirited, campy performance is about the only bright spot in this dreary, dull, not-very-thrilling thriller.  It's too bad, because a Sherlock Holmes-style film taking place in the dark world of Poe could have been really awesome.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD  (2008)  ***1/2 out of 4  On a train crossing the Manchurian desert, an unlikely trio -- good bounty hunter Park Do-won (Woo-sung Jung), bad gangster Park Chang-yi (Byung-hun Lee) and weird train robber Yoon Tae-goo (Kang-ho Song) -- compete to find a treasure map's promised loot. Racing through the unforgiving landscape, they stay one step ahead of rivals and the Japanese army. Ji-woon Kim directs this Sergio Leone-inspired adventure.

My Review: Thrilling, hugely enjoyable action/adventure that plays something like a mash-up of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Kung-Fu Hustle and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  For the first 90 minutes, it's just about perfect: entertaining, sympathetic good guys, really-bad bad guys and a story that rolls along at a terrific pace, filled with wildly cinematic action sequences.  If the last 30 minutes feels exhausting, it's probably just because it's too much of a good thing (and there are far worse cinematic sins).  Highly recommended and available on Netflix streaming.

BULLY  (2012)  ** out of 4  Exploring the subject of school bullying from a personal angle, this eye-opening documentary tracks the stories of five different families whose children are struggling to defend themselves on a near-daily basis.

My Review: School bullying is a serious, important, and unsolvable problem of immense complexity.  Too immense for director Lee Hirsch apparently, whose well-intentioned but mediocre documentary Bully avoids the larger sociological issues at hand in favor of 60 Minutes-style profiles of victims.  These kids' stories are compelling, but their presentation in this film isn't, and the filmmakers ultimately don't seem to have much to say besides "kids can be real shitheads sometimes, and that sucks!"  The film's most fatal flaw, however, is the filmmakers' decision to not interview any actual bullies or their parents.  Without that crucial half of the story, it's a frustratingly one-dimensional film.

RUBBER  (2011)  *** out of 4  Quentin Dupieux directs this inventive twist on low-rent revenge flicks, which follows a car tire named Robert that rolls through the desert Southwest using its strange psychic powers to blow up birds, bunnies, human beings and more. But when Robert spies a gorgeous woman motoring down the highway, he decides to follow her and take a chance on love. This gleefully over-the-top black comedy stars Stephen Spinella and Roxanne Mesquida.

My Review: Any movie about a killer tire would have to pull in a pretty open-minded audience, so it's a good thing that Rubber includes a good number of surprise treats for those open-minded souls.  Part absurdist dark comedy and part hyper-meta satire, it fills up the 80 minutes far better than I expected with lots of creative twists and turns (and lots of exploding heads and animals!)  Stephen Spinella and Wings Hauser are also great and clearly having fun with the deconstructive shenanigans.

STOP MAKING SENSE  (1984)  ***1/2  Director Jonathan Demme expertly crafted this unrivaled concert film from footage of three live gigs at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. The staging concept -- the brainchild of Talking Heads front man David Byrne -- begins with the lead vocalist striding onto an empty stage, acoustic guitar and boom box in hand. With each new tune, another band member or backup singer joins Byrne onstage, building steadily toward the smokin' finale.

My Review: As good as I've always heard it was, Stop Making Sense is an expertly done concert film chronicling the Talking Heads' live show at the height of their success.  Talking Heads are one of those bands that I have regrettably not gotten around to fully absorbing yet (despite the fact that I already own five of their albums, just haven't gotten around to listening to them yet!) but this excellent film certainly lit a fire under me to get to them.  A gloriously cinematic film, especially the beautifully done, extended opening during which the band members appear on stage one at a time over the course of several songs until at last the stage is complete.

TRINITY AND BEYOND: THE ATOMIC BOMB MOVIE  (1995)  *** out of 4  Using jaw-dropping footage that was previously classified by the U.S. government, this fascinating documentary compiled by special effects filmmaker Peter Kuran and narrated by William Shatner chronicles the development of the atomic hydrogen bomb. Highlights include an underwater detonation of an atomic bomb designed to test the effect of the blast on ships at sea, as well as an interview with nuclear weapons developer Edward Teller.

My Review: The best film I've ever seen about the atomic bomb is 1982's brilliantly haunting collage-style documentary The Atomic Cafe (seriously, seek out that movie if you haven't - and it's available on Netflix Instant, too!)  Trinity and Beyond is a much more straightforward, just-the-facts documentary that suffers from almost too much information over the course of 90 minutes, threatenening to become numbing in the process.  Still, very much worth seeing for those interesting in this fascinating and terrifying subject. 

THE RAID: REDEMPTION  (2012)  *** out of 4  When an elite SWAT team goes after a drug lord holed up in Jakarta's most notorious tenement building, they find themselves trapped and forced to fight their way out through brutal gangsters loyal to the kingpin they were trying to assassinate.

My Review: An insane action movie boiled down to the very basics (skilled, well-armed good guys vs. skilled, well-armed bad guys: GO!).  Maybe more than any other movie to which this comparison has been made, The Raid: Redemption is like a video game, complete with levels and bosses that must be defeated before moving on.  Barely any time for dialogue (beyond the functional necessities) or any character development at all.  None of this is a negative.  For what it is, the movie is just about perfect.  The action is phenomenal, remarkably brutal and almost never lets up.  I can't exactly say it's a complete film-going experience, but for 90 minutes of well-choreographed punching, kicking and shooting it's hard to beat.

THE KID WITH A BIKE  (2011)  ***1/2 out of 4  After being abandoned by his deadbeat dad, 11-year-old Cyril Catoul is virtually adopted by a goodhearted hairdresser who tries to help him. But despite her kindness, the disillusioned boy soon falls in with a young drug peddler.

My Review: Another excellent, naturalistic slice-of-life from the Dardenne brothers, The Kid with a Bike may look like sentimental fluff, but as those familiar with the Dardennes' work would expect, it's actually quite gripping and raw, able to suck you in completely in its very first moments.  As the titular "kid," Thomas Doret is incredible, all the more so for this being his first film.

[REC] 2  (2009)  *** out of 4  In this sequel to their 2007 horror hit [Rec], directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza take viewers back to the scene of the original nightmare -- a now-sealed-off apartment where a raging virus was unleashed on rescue workers. With camera once again in tow, a medical officer and a SWAT team venture into ground zero of the virulent virus to try to contain the disease and abort its deadly spread.

My Review: The original [REC] wasn't just the best of all the Blair Witch knock-offs, but one of the very best horror films of the last decade.  For better and worse, this sequel is pretty much exactly like it.  The novelty of the original is gone, however, despite this film's Exorcist-style twist on it.  The filmmakers also make a serious error by breaking away from the SWAT team to follow a trio of annoying teenagers who decide to break into the quarantined building (with a camera, of course) to...I dunno, look around and get killed.  It destroys the momentum of the movie for about 20 minutes, but after they're out of the picture it starts being pretty awesome again.  And what a finish!

RED  (2008)  **1/2 out of 4  When it becomes apparent that the three teenage miscreants who murdered his dearly loved dog, Red, won't be held accountable for their senseless deed, the normally reclusive and affable Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) resolves to take matters into his own hands. Trygve Diesen and Lucky McKee direct this disquieting thriller that also stars Tom Sizemore, Kim Dickens, Robert Englund, Richard Riehle, Noel Fisher and Amanda Plummer.

My Review: With a great indie cast (especially a perfectly cast Brian Cox in the lead) and a simple revenge story that has the ring of a good Stephen King yarn, I was expecting a slam dunk here.  And it is pretty good most of the way, with Cox tearing into the role like I knew he would.  The script is a little on the weak side, however, and it becomes a tad silly by the end (the last thing you want in a revenge drama).  Still, worth seeing for the early scenes of Cox and Sizemore going head-to-head and the powerful moments scattered throughout.

AMERICAN REUNION  (2012)  ** out of 4  The four lustful buddies of American Pie return to East Great Falls for their high school reunion and a flood of memories. In the franchise's latest installment, the guys look back at their quest to lose their virginity in the first film.

My Review: The excellent, original American Pie (as well as the underrated American Wedding) managed the John Hughes-like feat of balancing silly humor with suprising moments of poignance and truth.  So it's a big bummer that this latest installment aims for the former and only makes bumbling, half-hearted attempts at the latter.  I always enjoy seeing these characters, and there are a few good laughs scattered throughout (as well as a nice, nostalgic '90s soundtrack), but the script is lazy and obvious, the set-pieces labored.  They don't even offer a real explanation as to why this is a 13-year (?!) reunion.

MARWENCOL  (2010)  ***1/2 out of 4  After a terrible beating left Mark Hogancamp brain damaged, he began creating models of a fictional town, Marwencol, to process the trauma. Jeff Malmberg's documentary explains how Hogancamp uses the elaborate dioramas as stand-ins for real life.

My Review: Utterly unique documentary, by turns haunting, inspiring, and disturbing.  It's worth seeing for the beautiful, surreal photos of Hogancamp's astonishingly detailed miniature town alone (just do a Google image search for "Marwencol" for a taste), but the profile of the fascinating, contradictory Hogancamp himself is equally compelling.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS  (2012)  ***1/2 out of 4  Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen. If you think you know this story, think again. From fan favorites Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard comes The Cabin in the Woods, a mind blowing horror film that turns the genre inside out.

My Review: There are movies that "think outside the box," and then there's The Cabin in the Woods.  One of the very best horror films of recent years (as well as one of the most inventive and unique), it delighted my inner 12 year-old horror geek at the same time it stimulated my imagination and love of meta-textual, self-referential craziness.  Goddard and Whedon's film achieves a pretty amazing feat here, being a film that functions as horror, comedy, science-fiction, satire and allegory all at once, and never feels like the mess it might have been in less capable hands.  Go see this movie!

JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI  (2012)  ***1/2 out of 4  This delectable documentary profiles sushi chef Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old master whose 10-seat, $300-a-plate restaurant is legendary among Tokyo foodies. Ono is also a father, whose sons struggle to live up to his legacy and make their own marks.

My Review: Wonderful (and mouth-watering) documentary about a man who almost literally raised himself from the slums to being one of the world's most renowned sushi chefs.  Inspiring, moving, and frequently funny, the film also features beautiful photography of Tokyo and is filled with the exquisite, atmospheric sounds of Philip Glass.  And at just 80 minutes, there's plenty of time to get dinner afterwards!

EXPORTING RAYMOND  (2010)  *** out of 4  Everybody Loves Raymond creator Philip Rosenthal writes, directs and stars in this fish-out-of-water documentary that chronicles his attempts to adapt his hit sitcom for Russian television.

My Review: Occasionally painfully awkward but ultimately very enjoyable documentary about the inevitable culture clash that arises when an American sitcom is adapted for a foreign audience.  Following the success of shows like The Nanny being adapted for Russian audiences, ...Raymond seemed like a slam-dunk, but Rosenthal runs into many unexpected difficulties, chief among them the fact that Russians are not used to the idea of watching shows about ordinary families.

CUTTER'S WAY  (1981)  *** out of 4  Burned-out beach-bum Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) and his best friend, disfigured Vietnam veteran Alex Cutter (John Heard), stumble on a murder cover-up involving a powerful landowner in director Ivan Passer's brooding crime thriller. But Bone gets more than he bargained for when Cutter insists on blackmailing the suspect, who forces them into a cunning cat-and-mouse game that ignites a full-blown war. Lisa Eichhorn plays Cutter's neglected wife.

My Review: Interesting, unusual and well-acted drama/thriller.  At first, I thought John Heard was miscast as Cutter, a flailing, combative, battle-scarred alcoholic Vietnam vet convinced he's getting to the bottom of a murder mystery, but he grew on me, as did the film's easygoing rhythm.  A young Jeff Bridges is as charismatic and likeable as ever as Bone, the straight man to Heard's wild Cutter, who at first thinks Cutter is full of it, but then that just maybe he's onto something...  The best performance of all, however, easily belongs to Lisa Eichhorn, who invests Cutter's wife with a complicated mixture of feelings toward her husband which includes grief, regret, and reluctant amusement and undeniable love.